On May 5, the Supreme Court issued a notice in response to a petition seeking horizontal reservation for transgender candidates in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Postgraduate (NEET-PG) courses 2025, which is scheduled for June 15, 2025.
The bench, comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, passed the order after hearing Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, as per a report by Livelaw.in.
Jaising argued that, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in NALSA vs Union of India, neither the Central nor the state governments have implemented reservation for transgender persons in education and employment.
“We direct the Centre and the State Governments to take steps to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and extend all kinds of reservation in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments,” she said.
The petition, filed through Advocate-on-Record Paras Nath Singh, challenges the April 16, 2025, notice and April 17 information bulletin issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) regarding NEET-PG 2025-26.
The petitioners argue that the documents violate constitutional provisions under Articles 14, 15, and 19(1)(a), as well as Article 144, which obliges all civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of the Supreme Court, added Livelaw.in.
The petitioners, who identify as transgender individuals pursuing or having completed MBBS, seek a directive to issue a fresh admission notice with compartmentalised horizontal reservation by allocating 1 per cent seats within each vertical category for transgender candidates.
The plea states that in the absence of such a provision, transgender aspirants — who face considerable social discrimination — are denied equal opportunity and adequate representation in postgraduate medical education.
