Maharashtra panel on implementation of transgender policy to give its report next week

The Maharashtra government has stated that the committee set up to assess the implementation of the 2019 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act will submit its report by September 20.

Maharashtra’s Advocate General, Birendra Saraf, while providing this date, also requested several weeks for the state to review the report.

The bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Manjusha Deshpande has granted the state six weeks to evaluate the report.

The hearing for the petitions advocating for reservations for transgender individuals in the state will take place on October 25.

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Two civil petitions were presented before the bench: One by Dr Nia Sara Padamapani and another by Vinayak Bhagwan Kashid. Both were seeking job reservations for transgender individuals.

The Central government had issued the Transgender Rules of 2020 to implement the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019. These rules outlined a procedure for identifying transgender individuals for employment purposes.

Earlier this year, a government resolution (GR) was passed on March 14, 2023, to recommend a policy for recruiting transgender individuals for employment and education. The GR stated that a 14-member committee, primarily composed of department secretaries and a psychiatrist, was established. The committee’s first meeting took place on March 28, 2023.

On Tuesday, Government pleader Manish Pable informed the court that the committee had been formed and meetings had taken place. He added that while a report was awaited, the committee was unlikely to reach a decision on the reservation issue.

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Kashid’s lawyer, Kranti LC, informed the court that his client had also approached the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) regarding the same issue. In that case, the state had stated in an affidavit that they would mirror the central government’s decision, whereas the Union government had declared that there would be no separate reservation for transgender individuals. He also noted that the MAT hearing is scheduled for this week, during which the state has asked the tribunal not to issue any orders until the high court has made a decision.

While the bench expressed astonishment at the government’s affidavit statement, it declined to entertain this argument, stating, “We cannot direct the tribunal. It is for the tribunal to decide. It can always say that we will not wait.”