Delhi High Court allows activist's intervention in plea on employment of transgenders

New Delhi: A transgender rights activist, Grace Banu has filed an "Intervention Application" before the Delhi High Court, seeking permission to support the court in a plea seeking hiring of transgender people in public appointments.

Representing Banu, Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari submitted that she wanted to assist the court in the present case.

The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh allowed the intervention application, but refused any impleadment in the case.

The court noted: "In terms of the previous order affidavit were to be filed by the respondents. However, it is stated that the Union of India received the petition only on March 24."

Thus, the court directed all the respondents to file their affidavits.

The court added: "Let the paper book be given to the Union of India, so that they can reply on the affidavit in 6 weeks. List the matter for August 4."

The court was hearing a plea filed by one Jane Kaushik, a transgender person living in the national capital.

Being a qualified individual with degrees in B.A. (General), M.A. (Political Science), B.Ed., and a two-year diploma in Nursery Teacher Training (NTT), which is also known as Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), since 2019, Kaushik had been looking for employment in Delhi government schools, but to no avail.

The Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) advertised a position, but Kaushik was unable to apply since the online application registration system (OARS) did not contain "transgender" as an option for identification. As a result, she filed the current plea.

Kaushik in her plea stated that various positions advertised required a "specific gender" of the candidate, either male or female.

She has sought directions through the current plea in order to develop a policy for the hiring of transgender people for all positions with the Delhi government.

She also sought relaxations for transgender persons by Clause 9 of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) guidelines issued by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and sought effective implementation of the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

The court had sought the Centre's response to the current plea in January.

The Ministry of Home Affairs of the Central Government was to be included as a party to the plea, the court had directed.

The Delhi government's counsel subsequently informed the court that the DSSSB had already taken the necessary actions to instantly alter the portal.

After considering the arguments, the court had clarified that Kaushik would be permitted to apply for positions at any time, regardless of the gender indicated in the job posting.