Yesterday, On 12th June, The Madras High Court mandated that transgender individuals be treated as a special category for employment and education opportunities, ensuring they are not classified under male or female categories at any point in the future.
Chennai: In a landmark ruling, the Madras High Court mandated that transgenders be recognized solely as a special category, regardless of caste. Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan, in an order issued on June 12, 2024, directed the Tamil Nadu government to exclude transgenders from the male and female categories in both educational and employment sectors.
The government instructed to establish distinct criteria for transgenders in all job and educational opportunities. Additionally, all state recruiting agencies must classify transgenders as a special category and implement separate cut-off norms for them.
Read Order: Madras High Court Advocates for Horizontal Reservation for Transgender Persons
The judge ruled that age relaxations available to other special categories must also be extended to transgenders, regardless of their caste, in future educational and employment opportunities.
The judge emphasized,
“It is clear that at no point in the future shall transgenders be classified under male or female categories,”
This decision came in response to a petition filed by R Anushri, a transgender individual who denied the chance to be considered for the combined civil service examination for the 2017-18 year, which was for non-interview Group-II A services under various categories. The judge noted that since the petitioner achieved the qualifying cut-off mark, the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission must allow her to upload documents for certificate verification.
The judge also pointed out that the petitioner had been placed in the scheduled caste woman category and denied permission by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) to upload her certificate for verification, as her score, below the cut-off prescribed for scheduled caste women.
The judge criticized TNPSC’s unsustainable approach, pointing out that it failed to classify transgender individuals as a distinct category. The decision to include the petitioner under the female category contradicted rulings by both the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court.
Read Order: Madras HC Directs TN Govt. to Implement Horizontal Reservation for Transgender Persons
The Supreme Court explicitly stated that transgender individuals should be recognized as unique and should not be classified as male or female. When Punjab categorized all transgender individuals as male, the Supreme Court deemed this action illegal and unsustainable.
Additionally, the judge noted that categorizing transgender individuals within the caste they born into is ineffective and detrimental to their development.
The Supreme Court ruled on the National Legal Service Authority case as early as April 15, 2014. However, according to the judge’s order, neither the state government nor the central government taken steps to create a consistent system of employment opportunities for transgender individuals, even after this landmark court decision.