Sakina Tashrifwala

Published on: 16 September 2022 at 18:18 IST

A public interest lawsuit demanding actions for the protection of transgender convicts, whether in police or court custody, was dismissed by the Patna High Court on Wednesday.

The Division Bench, which was made up of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S. Kumar, believed that certain actions had been taken that had undoubtedly advanced the cause of transgender people who were in legal trouble.

Special cells have been set aside in jails for housing community members, it was claimed in the affidavits provided by the Principal Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs in Patna and the Inspector General of Prisons, Prisons and Reforms Services, Government of Bihar, Patna. Significant adherence to the government of Bihar’s Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines.

The petitioner was, however, given permission by the court to highlight the remaining complaints in a written submission to the state’s department of home affairs. Additional directives were given to the state to make sure that the rules provided for the State of Bihar by the Government of India on placing transgender people in jails would be carried out in letter and spirit.

The petitioner, LAW Foundation, through attorney Vishal Kumar Singh, asked the court to issue orders to the respondents for the development of separate wards and cells for transgender people who had been imprisoned for a variety of offences and were being held in all Central Prisons, District Prisons, and Sub-Jails located in the state of Bihar.

The petition further requested that the respondent authorities be given instructions to ensure that transgender inmates are isolated from male and female inmates by either confining them in separate cells, isolation wards, hospitals, and lock-ups in judicial as well as police custody, in order to ensure that transgender prisoners are protected from mental and sexual harassment while they are convicted and awaiting trial.

In response to the Court’s directives in the current Order allowing the petitioner the freedom to highlight any lingering grievances, Additional Advocate General-III Prabhat Kumar Verma and Advocate Suman Kumar Jha (AC to AAG III) submitted on behalf of the Director General of Police, Government of Bihar, which had been impleaded as Respondent 4, that an opportunity of hearing would be provided, and the suggestions made by the petitioner, to the extent feasible.

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