Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 7: The Delhi High Court on Monday expressed strong disapproval of the Delhi government’s failure to implement reservation in public employment for transgender persons as directed by the Supreme Court in its landmark 2014 NALSA judgment. The court converted a writ petition filed by a transgender applicant into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to address the larger issue of transgender inclusion in government jobs.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the Delhi government to take an appropriate decision within ten days to extend benefits to transgender persons as per its 2021 notification, which provided age and marks relaxation but no reservation.

“The government has to take policy decisions and comply with the Supreme Court’s directions. We are enlarging the scope of this writ petition to a PIL,” the bench said.

The court also ordered that the Union of India and the Delhi government’s Department of Social Welfare be made parties to the case, noting that despite the NALSA ruling recognizing transgenders as a socially and educationally backward class, no reservation policy had been implemented in public employment so far.

The bench observed that while Parliament had enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act and framed related rules, welfare measures mandated under it were yet to be executed.

“There have been many transgender persons who could not apply as the age and marks relaxation was not made available. The government should have taken policy decisions for inclusion and effective participation,” the court stated.

It directed the Delhi government to consult with the High Court and ensure the notification’s benefits are implemented within ten days. If the relaxations are extended, the application deadline for the recruitment process must also be extended by a month and publicised widely, the court added.