The Uttarakhand High Court.
Credit: highcourtofuttarakhand.gov.in/
Nainital: Uttarakhand High Court in a landmark judgment on Friday set aside the school education board's decision to refuse changes in name and gender in educational certificates of transgenders.
The high court also directed the state government to amend the existing rules in line with the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, laying emphasis on implementing the evolved legal process and mandating recognition of the rights of transgender persons.
A transgender person from Haldwani had filed a petition, alleging that educational certificates identified them as a girl.
In 2020, they underwent sexual reassignment surgery in a Delhi hospital and legally changed their name and gender.
Their request to update their name and gender in educational certificates, despite possessing an identity card issued by the Nainital district magistrate under Section 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, was rejected by the Uttarakhand Board of School Education.
The board cited that the case did not fall under Section 27 of Chapter 12 of its regulations, which allowed changes only in names that were obscene, offensive or derogatory.
A bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari, while passing the order, said the legal crux of the case involved the interpretation of rights provided under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act.
The board's rules must be consistent with these statutory rights, Justice Tiwari said.