A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and including Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha, advised the Union Government to establish a High-Powered Committee to address the socio-economic and other rights and needs of the queer community, in response to a request from the Union Government.
NEW DELHI: Today (30th Aug): The Finance Ministry announced that there are no longer any restrictions preventing individuals from the LGBTQ community from opening joint bank accounts or designating a partner in a queer relationship as a beneficiary.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and including Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha, advised the Union Government to establish a High-Powered Committee to address the socio-economic and other rights and needs of the queer community, in response to a request from the Union Government.
This clarification was issued on August 28, following a Supreme Court ruling on October 17, 2023, in the case of Supriyo@Supriya Chakraborty and another vs Union of India. The advisory also mentioned that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had provided guidance on August 21 to all commercial banks to ensure compliance.
Supriyo@Supriya Chakraborty and another vs Union of India: In this case, the Supreme Court of India (“Court”) unanimously held that there was no unqualified fundamental right to marry under the Constitution. The Court also upheld the constitutional validity of Section 4 of the Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 and Section 4 of the The State Financial Corporations Act,(FMA) 1951 that only recognises marriages between heterosexual couples. In a 3:2 split, the majority upheld the ‘right to relationship’ for queer couples but it also opined that the judiciary cannot confer a right to marry in the absence of a statute. In contrast, the dissenting opinion recognised ‘civil unions’ formed between queer (“LGBTQIA+”) individuals.
Earlier, Centre informed the Supreme Court that a ‘certificate of identity‘ issued by the district magistrate under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 will be recognized as valid documentation for applying for a PAN card.
The RBI initially addressed the needs of the LGBTQ community in 2015 by directing banks to include a ‘third gender’ option in forms and applications, enabling transgender individuals to access banking services.
This directive led many banks to introduce services tailored to the transgender community. For instance, ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd launched the ‘Rainbow Savings Account’ in 2022, offering special features like high savings rates and debit card benefits for the transgender community.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Centre established a six-member committee in April 2024, led by the Cabinet Secretary. The committee’s mandate was to identify measures to eliminate discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community and ensure their equal access to services, while also addressing issues of violence and harassment commonly faced by the community.
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