Spell plan to identify transgenders: Court

A division bench comprising Justice M Sathayanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee while reiterating its apprehension about the misuse of benefits meant for the transgender community and intersex persons on the basis of self- identification, sought the Tamil Nadu government to file a report by October 31 about transgender persons being made officio members in the committee, size of the committee, how many amongst them can be transgenders and other aspects which can offer a workable solution to the issue.

Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari appearing for Grace Banu who had moved a PIL in this regard submitted that in Karnataka, the transgender cell setup has introduced the process of submitting self-declared affidavit for issue of ID cards to transgenders.

Further, submitting that the Supreme Court has also sought for such a system of self-identification, the senior counsel pointed out that the Tamil Nadu government can call for a meeting with transgenders to find out as to how best the system of self-identification can be brought about while avoiding the misuse of persons pretending to betransgenders.

The PIL has sought for horizontal reservation for transgender persons in public employment and educational institutions along with issuance of government identification cards to transgender and intersex persons as per the principle of self-identification.