The Kerala High Court has intervened in a petition filed by a transgender law aspirant seeking reservation for transgender candidates in the integrated five-year LL.B course at government law colleges, particularly at Kozhikode. The court has taken proactive steps by impleading the Bar Council of India (BCI) into the proceedings.
In the suit, the petitioner, identified as a transgender woman, achieved the qualifying score for admission through the Kerala Law Entrance Examination (KLEE) and was included in the official merit list. However, she was not granted admission to Government Law College, Kozhikode, because there was no separate reservation or category for transgender applicants in the centralized allotment process.
Represented by a team of advocates, the petitioner argued that this denial violated the Supreme Court’s landmark NALSA judgment and statutory provisions under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. She also pointed to Kerala government orders recognizing transgender persons as socially and educationally backward, entitling them to reservation benefits. The petitioner asserted that excluding her amounted to discrimination in breach of her fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
During the hearing, the State informed the court that it had proposed adding two additional seats specifically for transgender students and had sought approval from the Bar Council of India. However, these seats had not been implemented pending BCI’s response. The court noted this fact and observed that while the proposal for two additional seats is pending approval, there was no requirement to keep them vacant at this stage.
Recognizing the delay and the petitioner’s consequential disadvantage, the court formally impleaded the BCI as a necessary party. The court indicated that until a decision on approval is rendered, the seats should not remain unallocated or unused.
This step highlights the urgency of addressing systemic exclusion in legal education and underscores the court’s role in ensuring inclusion aligned with constitutional and statutory mandates.
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