Sex change plea: Bombay HC directs constable to move tribunal

The Bombay High Court has asked constable Lalita Salve “who sought leave for sex-reassignment surgery“ to move the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal.

Lalita's lawyer, Ejaz Naqvi, on Monday mentioned the petition before a division bench comprising Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharti Dangre, seeking an urgent hearing.

"Why should we hear the petition? Go to the state administrative tribunal," Justice Dharmadhikari said.

The 29-year-old constable is now based in Majalgaon in the Beed district of the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.

Earlier, her application for sex-reassignment surgery and leave came before Director General of Police Satish Mathur, Inspector General of Police (Aurangabad Range) Milind Bharambe and Superintendent of Police (Beed) G Sreedhar - but were rejected.

Last week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked the police top brass and the Home Department to take a positive stand on the plea.