Court serves notice to Union Ministries on sex change issue

Court serves notice to Union Ministries on sex change issue


Follows PIL by social activist


Cases of two women, who faced punishment, cited
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Union Home and Health and Child Welfare Ministries and the Delhi Government on public interest litigation seeking guidelines for treating those who undergo natural sex change midway through their lives as a separate category with all the benefits that are available to other members of society.
A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Veena Birbal directed them to file their replies by May 5 next year. The petitioner, social activist Rahul Verma, cited in his petition two instances in which two women were found to have undergone gender change and were punished for no fault of theirs.
He submitted that in the first instance, the Central Industrial Security Force had dismissed a woman employee during her training period when she was found to have undergone gender transformation. She had been recruited under the women’s category. In the second instance, Tamil Nadu-based athlete Santhi Soundarajan, who had won the silver medal at the Doha Asian Games last year in the 800 metres race, was divested of the medal when she was found to have developed male features, the petitioner submitted.
The Railways had also refused to give employment to her as she failed the gender test, the petition said. The petitioner submitted that such persons should not be discriminated against as they underwent gender change due to forces beyond their control. He said the Government should also provide free medical treatment to such persons.