The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh education authorities to issue revised educational certificates reflecting the changed name and gender of a transgender individual who underwent sex-reassignment surgery. The petition was filed by a transgender person who had identified as female at birth, subsequently underwent transition surgery and obtained a certificate of identity affirming gender change under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and its Rules. The Board had refused the request on the grounds that no procedure existed for correcting name and gender in educational documents at a “very belated stage”, and furthermore contended that the 2019 Act and Rules were not applicable to the petitioner.
The High Court, reasoning that the Transgender Persons Act is a special legislation whose provisions operate in addition to existing laws (and must not be read in derogation of them), found that the Board’s denial was legally unsustainable. Specifically, the Court held that under Rule 5(3) and the relevant Annexure of the Rules, a transgender person is permitted to modify their name, gender and photograph in all official documents—including school and university certificates. By refusing to apply those provisions, the Board committed a legal error in the Court’s view.
The petitioner, having obtained the certificate under Section 6 of the Act recognising them as a transgender person, and also the certificate under Section 7 after the surgery indicating change of gender, had applied to the Board for correction of educational records. The Board rejected the application stating that the procedure for such changes was not specified and that the Act did not apply. The Court found this reasoning did not stand, emphasising that the Act’s priority under Section 20 requires that its protective provisions be read alongside, and supplement, other enactments.
Consequently, the High Court set aside the Board’s order and directed the education department to ensure that fresh marksheets and certificates are issued reflecting the petitioner’s changed name and gender. The Court set a deadline of eight weeks for the issuance of such revised documents. It further stressed that educational authorities must ensure that transcripts, certificates and related records comply with the identity change recognised under law, so as not to leave transgender persons in administrative limbo.
The judgment underscores the constitutional imperative of equality, dignity and non-discrimination for transgender persons and reinforces that legal transitions—including surgery and gender recognition—must be matched by administrative recognition in all relevant documentation.
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