New Delhi, October 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central government on a petition by Women's Declaration International India (WDII) that raises concerns about the impact of India's transgender rights legislation on the statutory protections and benefits earmarked for women. A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana sought the Centre's response and tagged the plea with the petitions already pending against the 2026 amendment to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act.
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The petition challenges Section 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, as amended in 2026, insofar as it enables persons assigned male at birth to obtain certificates recording them as female, along with Rule 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 and related provisions. It has also sought reconsideration and clarification of the Court's 2014 NALSA judgment, which recognised the right of transgender persons to legal recognition of their gender identity.
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'Protections for biological women must remain'
Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for WDII, said the organisation supports equal rights and privileges for transgender persons and does not oppose the right to identify as transgender. "Our concern is the impact on constitutional and statutory benefits exclusive to biological females. Those protections must remain and cannot be interfered with. Transgender persons must have equal rights and privileges, but the question is whether those rights can encroach upon protections reserved for biological women," he submitted. He added that the question whether transgender persons should get separate reservations in panchayats, or claim the seats reserved for women, had not been raised in the other petitions, and that this was the only plea filed by a women's organisation.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Court that the Centre's reply in the connected matters was being prepared and that the concerns raised in the WDII plea would also be addressed. He flagged the practical questions the law throws up — participation in women's sporting events, prison arrangements and arrest safeguards — asking: "A woman cannot be arrested after sunset. Suppose a man accused of a crime says he has always identified himself as a woman. How would the police react?" Justice Bagchi, meanwhile, cautioned that repeated petitions could defeat the petitioner's own cause because the pending batch was almost ready for hearing, while the Bench observed that the plea showed "light from the other end of the tunnel".
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The plea relies on earlier rulings and decisions — including a Bombay High Court decision allowing a person assigned male at birth who identifies as female to contest a panchayat election from a women-reserved constituency, and Kerala decisions on NCC enrolment and women's sports — to argue that eligibility for women-only reservations, posts, sporting categories, hostels and prisons needs a clear legal line. The 2026 Amendment, passed by Parliament in March 2026, had removed the right to self-perceived gender identity under Section 4(2) of the 2019 Act and tied recognition to a certificate issued through a medical authority; the challenges to that amendment, filed by transgender persons alleging a violation of their rights, will now be heard together with the WDII plea after the Centre files its reply.