Transgenders can ask govt not to reckon them as a caste: HC

The Patna High Court has observed that anyone from the transgender community would be entitled to make representation to the state government, seeking not to reckon the transgenders as a caste.

”Though there is a mistake committed insofar as the ‘transgenders’ are included under the caste enumeration. The separate identification of the community and an enquiry into their socio-economic and educational status as a group could only lead to welfare measures for them,” the bench Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy has observed.

The court said the intention of caste survey is not to give benefits on the basis of caste, but to identify communities with the caste as an indicator of the larger group of individuals, who would require measures for their social, economic and educational upliftment and to ensure an equal status and decent living conditions within the society.

The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by social activist Reshma Prasad to assert the rights of the transgender with reference to caste survey on the pretext that caste and gender are two separate identities of an individual and hence the inclusion of transgender persons in the category of caste is violative of the Constitution of India.

The order delivered on Friday was uploaded on Monday.

The petitioner’s counsel had prayed for expunging of “transgenders” from the caste list.

“As of now, the prayer may not survive since the caste survey is completed. The petitioner or anyone from the community would be entitled to make representation to the State government, seeking not to reckon the transgenders as a caste,” observed the bench.