Category Archives: NALSA

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Surbhi Trivedi v. Gaurav Trivedi Misc. Petition No. 4820 of 2018

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

The practical limits of the gender determination aspect of the NALSA decision were tested on the 4th of October, 2019 when a single judge bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered a gender determination test in a matrimonial dispute. In this blog, I will summarize the facts and the decision, and demonstrate that: 1. There is still confusion about the definition of transgender, and intersex persons are considered to be transgender; and 2. That this decision provides a legal limitation to the fundamental right to self-determined gender identity.

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X v. State of Uttarakhand and Ors. Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 28 of 2019

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Reading Time: 6 minutes

On the 31st of May, 2019, a single judge bench of the Uttarakhand High Court decided whether a trans-woman’s allegation of rape should be recorded under Section 375 or Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’)? In deciding that the trans-woman had a right to self-determine her gender, ‘without further confirmation from any authority’, this case is a rare example of the correct application of the NALSA decision. It breaks from the trend observed in the Indian courts posts NALSA that when a person seeks to identify in a gender different from what the society has perceived her to be, the courts rely on a sex re-assignment surgery (and in one case, a psychological exam) to grant that right.

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Rano and Ors. v. State of Uttarakhand  Writ Petition Criminal Nos. 1794 and 1785 of 2018

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

On the 28th of September, 2018, a division bench of the Uttarakhand High Court ordered the State government to implement the NALSA[1] directions. In addition to the NALSA directions, the court also gave certain additional directions to the State government with respect to the transgender population. The court granted a six month period for the implementation of these directions (i.e. by the 15th of March, 2019) The writ petitions filed in this case were filed by transgender persons and specifically contended that some private persons were interfering in the area of operation. The petition did not clarify the nature or scope of the interference. The judgment reiterated the ruling in NALSA and took judicial notice of the fact that the directions passed by the Supreme Court in NALSA had not been implemented by the State government. The NALSA directions, in full were as follows:

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