Centre, states show grossly apathetic attitude towards transgenders: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said the Centre and states have exhibited a "grossly apathetic attitude" towards transgenders by defacing the lived realities of this community with their inaction.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan court expressed serious concern over the discrimination faced by transgenders despite enactment of a law in 2019.

The court directed the Centre to come out with an "equal opportunity policy" within three months of the report submitted by an advisory panel.

The court flagged the sporadic or a complete lack of implementation of measures to ensure the prevention of discrimination against transgenders in various spheres of life, both public and private.

The bench said the Transgender Persons Act, 2019, was enacted to secure the dignity, equality and inclusion of transgenders in the mainstream, considering the cruel history of their policing.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the 2019 Act and the Transgender Persons Rules, 2020, have been "brutishly reduced to dead letters", the bench said.

"Such an attitude cannot be reasonably considered to be inadvertent or accidental; it appears intentional and seems to stem from deep-rooted societal stigma and the lack of bureaucratic will to effectuate the provisions of the 2019 Act and the 2020 Rules respectively," it said.

The court's judgment came on a plea filed by a transgender woman, Jane Kaushik, who was aggrieved by the discrimination and humiliation she faced in employment which allegedly resulted in her termination from two different schools.

Awarding a compensation of Rs two lakh to the petitioner, the court also constituted a committee to be headed by Justice Asha Menon, retired judge of the Delhi High Court, to formulate an equal opportunity policy for the protection of the rights of transgender persons.

The bench said the litigation before it was an eye-opener for one and all and it calls for an immediate attention to the plight of the transgender community in the country.

The court pointed out, despite the clear directions of this court on September 8, 2022, the Union government has feigned ignorance and has chosen not to act.

The court noted in March 2023 response of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to a question put in the Upper House of the Parliament was that there was no policy to reasonably accommodate transgender persons in employment.

"Such a stance is in blatant disregard to the mandate of Chapter IV of the 2019 Act which obligates the appropriate government to take steps in order to secure the full and effective participation of transgender persons and their inclusion in society," the bench said.

It said the persisting inaction combined with a blanket refusal to bring forth any semblance of compliance to the 2019 Act, even in the future, was "deeply disturbing".

The bench said the Centre was not the only party to be blamed and there seem to be a serious inertia on part of the states as well.

It said with the exception of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and recently Delhi, no other state has brought forth any rules along the lines of the 2020 Rules.

It noted that Odisha and Kerala have undertaken comprehensive policy measures but other states have situated themselves in a "comfortable silence".

The bench said despite Rule 11 of the 2020 Rules compulsorily requiring the state government to form transgender protection cells, only 11 states have formed such cells since the enactment of 2020 Rules.