Khushi Bajpai
Published on: October 14, 2022 at 20:13 IST
Without “hesitation,” the Madras High Court ruled that transgender people are eligible for a special third-gender reservation, or transgender category, for admission to post-basic (nursing) and post-basic diploma in psychiatric nursing courses.
The court ordered the Director of Medical Education (DME), Chennai, and Secretary (Selection Committee), DME, to treat petitioner S. Tamilselvi as third gender/transgender and accordingly place her in a special category, i.e., transgender category, for admission to the course for the academic year 2022–23 for which the current merit list has been issued by the secretary, selection committee, only for female analogues.
If any other transgender candidates—aside from Tamilselvi—applied for the same course, a new category of merit lists—comprising only transgender candidates—shall be created by the secretary and based on the inter se merit among the transgender candidates, according to Justice R Suresh Kumar.
The transgender candidates will be admitted if there are more than one available, depending on inter-se merit.
“The Secretary, Selection Committee, shall promptly carry out the aforementioned task, and in accordance with that, the selection shall continue to include the petitioner’s name in the special category, i.e., the transgender category,” he recently stated.
Tamilselvi had petitioned the Madras High Court to order the authorities to revoke the prospectus for the Post Basic (Nursing) Course and Post Basic Diploma in Psychiatry Nursing Course for the academic year 2022–2023 on the grounds that it was unlawful because transgender people were not given a special category.
She also asked the selection committee’s secretary for a directive to accept her to the Post Basic B.Sc. (Nursing) Course in a specific category for transgender students for the academic year 2022-2023.
Although communal reservations were offered for the aforementioned courses, there were no distinct horizontal bookings offered for people who identify as third gender or transgender.
She consequently went to court, according to her counsel Reshmi Christy.
Justice Suresh Kumar noted that “had there been special reservation as directed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court provided to transgenders, the petitioner would have been in a top position and would be in a position to get admission in the course concerned” in reference to the Supreme Court’s set of directives to the federal government and state governments regarding the action to be taken to treat the third gender/transgender as a special category.
The judge responded, “at least a provisional notice may have been issued,” in response to the argument that occasionally seats designated for transgender people may not be filled by them for lack of applicants because “very few transgenders are living” in the state.