Department of Publication, Government of India has been challenged by a transgender woman for its rule of changing the gender of a person in official records only after sex reassignment surgery.
A transgender woman who identifies herself as a Hijra has filed two petitions in the Delhi High Court. She requested the department to change her name and gender on educational documents but the department denied by stating the requirement of a surgery. This is a violation under Article 21 and 19, for which the first petition has been filed.
The other petition is against CBSE which puts restriction on the period for changing candidate’s name or gender to anytime before the publication of her results, the period being 10 years. For changing the details in the records provided by Delhi University, the change has to be made in the CBSE records.
The petitioner has been bound by these rules and her rights of self-identification are violated because she has to live with the name and the gender ascribed to her at birth.These rules are ultra vires the Constitution as they push people to live with the identity they are not comfortable in.
