Delhi: HC directs decision on age, marks relaxation for transgender job applicants

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked authorities to take a final decision within ten days on granting a five-year age relaxation and 5% concession in qualifying marks for transgender applicants seeking jobs in the High Court establishment. The directive came from a Division Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, which was hearing a plea alleging that recent recruitment advertisements had ignored earlier government notifications extending such benefits to transgender candidates.

The petition, filed by Praveen Singh, challenged a recruitment notification for various posts in the High Court, arguing that despite a Delhi Government order dated February 8, 2021, no age or marks relaxation was provided for transgender persons. Singh’s counsel, Advocate Naman Jain, also submitted that the Supreme Court’s 2014 NALSA judgment had recognized transgender persons as a distinct gender and directed governments to extend reservation and welfare benefits to them. The Bench expressed concern that despite the 2014 landmark ruling and the enactment of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, no concrete policy had been framed to ensure adequate representation and participation of transgender individuals in public employment. “The welfare measures mandated by the Act appear not to have been implemented in letter and spirit,” the judges remarked.

Observing that the lack of relaxation might have discouraged transgender candidates from applying, the Court directed the authorities to decide on the matter in consultation with the Delhi High Court administration. It also ordered that, once relaxations are extended, the deadline for submission of applications be extended by one month and that the decision be widely publicized by the DSSSB to ensure inclusivity. The Court further impleaded the Union of India through the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Delhi Government’s Department of Social Welfare, and the National Council for Transgender Persons as respondents to the case.

The matter will be taken up again on November 19 for further hearing.