The Delhi High Court has sharply criticized the authorities for failing to implement reservations for transgender persons in public employment, ordering that appropriate steps be taken to grant them age relaxation and concession in qualifying marks in forthcoming recruitment processes. A division bench consisting of the Chief Justice and another judge observed that, although the Supreme Court in the 2014 NALSA judgment had directed states to adopt welfare measures for transgender persons, little has been done. The bench said that even though Parliament has passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and rules have been framed under it, the statutory mandate for welfare measures, including affirmative action in employment, has not been implemented by governments.
The matter arises from a petition by a person named Praveen Singh, challenging a recruitment advertisement issued by the Delhi High Court. Singh contended that although the Delhi Government had earlier issued a notification on February 8, 2021, providing for a five-year age relaxation and a 5% relaxation in qualifying marks for transgender persons in public employment, the advertisement did not include reservation for transgender candidates and did not apply the relaxations to them. The authorities thus failed to comply with both the Supreme Court’s direction and the government notification.
Upon hearing the petition, the court issued notices to the Union of India through the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and to the Delhi Government through its Department of Social Welfare. The court also ordered that the National Council for Transgender Persons be impleaded as a party through its Member Secretary. The court noted that the purpose of such inclusion is to ensure the full and effective participation of transgender persons in society, and that by now governments ought to have taken policy decisions to provide for reservation for this community in public employment. The court observed that the failure to provide even the limited concessions to transgender persons may have prevented potential applicants from participating in the recruitment process.
Given that the last date for submission of applications under the impugned advertisement was September 24, the court recognized that transgender persons may have been disadvantaged due to lack of access to the relaxation in age or marks. Therefore, it directed that within ten days, a decision must be made in consultation with the Delhi High Court to extend the benefits of the February 2021 notification to transgender persons. If such relaxations are granted, the application deadline must be extended by another month, and the revised schedule must be widely publicized by the relevant recruitment agency. The court scheduled further hearing of the matter for November 19.
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