New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has sought the Centre's stand on the manner in which names of transgender persons are to be published in educational records following the amended transgender law.
A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain passed the order while dealing with petitions raising issues pertaining to transgender persons, which included how they were identified in certificates issued and records maintained by the University of Delhi and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
The bench observed that the directions issued in this matter could also extend to other official documentation, such as issuance of birth certificates, death certificates, passports, aadhaar cards, driving licenses and other official documents and made the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment a party to the proceedings.
"In view of the same, this Court is of the opinion that it would be necessary to hear the position of the Union of India in these matters. Accordingly, the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Union of India is impleaded as Respondent No. 4 in all the three petitions," said the court in the order passed on April 9.
"The MoSJE shall file its stand by way of an affidavit within a period of six weeks in all these matters," it ordered.
The court asked the lawyers appearing for the central government to take instructions from the ministry and clarified that if required, the MoSJE shall also seek the appropriate stance from any other ministry necessary for passing comprehensive directions.
The counsel for the CBSE said that following the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026, the definition of "transgender person" had been updated and under the new regime, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities would not be included within the definition.
The court listed the matter for hearing on July 15.
The petitions, filed in 2017 and 2019, sought directions for implementation of the rights under the Provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
The petitioners submitted that the authorities were not making the necessary changes in their official documents in compliance with the legal framework.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
