Dissatisfaction expressed over petition against Transgender Act

According to a Hindustan Times report, hearings are underway in the Supreme Court regarding petitions related to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act. In this matter, a new petition filed in the apex court by the Women's Declaration International (WDI) India Chapter has caused great surprise and displeasure among feminist organizations, while a wave of concern has also swept through sections of the transgender community. The primary demand made in this petition is to revoke the legal right to self-identified gender granted through the landmark judgment in the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and others versus Union of India case. In addition, a direction has also been sought not to grant all benefits, protections, and rights exclusively available to women to transgender persons, regardless of gender identity or medical intervention.

In the new petition, accompanied by a representative file photo, various types of reliefs have been sought. As stated in the petition, the petitioner seeks a reconsideration of the constitutional right to self-declared gender identity recognition in the NALSA judgment and demands clarification that all protections and rights for women should be determined solely on the basis of biological sex. This petition was filed by WDI India on October 10, but on October 28 it was tagged with other challenges by a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant.

This new petition also demands that Sections 7 and 18(d) of the Transgender Persons Act be declared unconstitutional, i.e., ultra vires. Section 7 deals with the process of applying for a male or female gender certificate following gender-affirming surgery, while Section 18(d) provides for imprisonment ranging from six months to two years and a fine for acts of physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and economic abuse against transgender persons.

Issuing a statement on Friday, the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), an independent left-leaning feminist organization, described the petition as completely misleading. The statement argued that the petition spreads the false notion that recognizing the rights of transgender persons discriminates against cisgender women and undermines their rights and freedoms. The petition is asking the Supreme Court to withdraw the little protection available to transgender persons and erase their identity, leaving them more vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

The WDI India petition also referred to a case brought to court by a trans woman teacher named Janaki Kaushik. The petition argued that cisgender women, who had called the trans woman a biological male, were labeled as body-shaming and it was assumed that the institution should have stopped it. The petition argued that this matter is a violation of their right to remain silent and is an opposition against compelled speech.

Janaki Kaushik, who herself faced gender-based discrimination while securing employment in two schools, strongly protested against this petition as her case was referenced in it. In October 2025, a two-judge bench of the court had ruled in the landmark Janaki Kaushik versus Union of India case that the Union and states have a positive obligation to prevent discrimination against transgender persons. In this case, a committee was also constituted under the chairmanship of retired High Court Justice Asha Menon to study the livelihood and employment options of trans persons.

Janaki Kaushik stated in her statement that this petition is personally very insulting to me, as I have been repeatedly addressed as a male in it and the hateful term 'biological male' has been used. My identity is neither a subject of trade for WDI India nor can it be commented upon by its lawyers. The Supreme Court itself has accepted me as a transgender woman in the judgment of my case, and my transgender identity certificate also recognizes it. It is clear that WDI India and its lawyers do not have any respect for me, but it is also clearly evident that they do not have any respect for the Supreme Court either.

The WDI India petition claimed that the conflation of gender identity and biological sex forces all people to believe in gender identity or to refer to biological males as 'women', which is a violation of freedom of speech and expression. Citing the Janaki Kaushik versus Union of India case, the petition stated that biologically female staff members, who raised their voices that the teacher is biologically male, were portrayed as body-shamers. Women are asked not only to share intimate residential spaces with a biological male but also to affirm that person's female identity at the risk of institutional sanction, which is a direct violation of a woman's dignity and autonomy under Article 21.

Regarding this matter, Janaki Kaushik further stated that this petition deliberately distorts the facts of my case before the Supreme Court, as it portrays that I experienced body-shaming and mistreatment due to the discomfort of other residents of the women's hostel of one of the schools opposing the case. The school in question never made any such argument, nor did the Supreme Court draw any such conclusion. I faced transphobic mistreatment from other staff and students of the schools against which I filed the petition, but WDI's petition has effectively rewritten my experience to create an artificial conflict between trans women and cisgender women.

The apex court is hearing a batch of petitions seeking relief against amendments made to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act earlier this year. In 2014, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi and a handful of transgender individuals, including NALSA, had petitioned the Supreme Court claiming widespread discrimination, social stigma, and violence. At that time, the court gave legal recognition to what it termed the 'third gender' and declared the right to self-identification of gender as a fundamental right.