New Delhi: In a groundbreaking ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday recognised transgenders or eunuchs as a third category of gender, and emphasised that steps must be taken to uplift them from social backwardness and bring them into society’s mainstream.
In two concurring orders, a bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri directed the Centre and all states to include the transgender community in “other backward castes” category, and extend reservations for admission in educational institutions and appointment to government jobs to them.
The judges said that if transgenders were not recognised as a third gender, it would violate their rights to equality, job opportunity, life and personal liberty as guaranteed by the Constitution. The rulings also said that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was like discrimination on the basis of sex, prohibited by Article 15 of the Constitution.
The judges recognised the transgender rights issue as a matter of human rights rather than as a medical or social issue. It directed the Centre and all states to frame social benefit schemes for the third sex, saying their social and economic condition was far from satisfactory.
The Supreme Court also noted that Section 377 IPC was being misused by the police and other authorities against transgenders.
