The absence of the transgender category in application forms for this year’s Civil Services Preliminary Examination has been brought to the attention of the Delhi High Court, which asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Monday if it wanted to disqualify members of the third gender right away.
A public interest writ petition, which was moved by a lawyer, challenged the UPSC’s notice for the examination scheduled for August 23 with regard to the gender or sex eligibility criterion for applying. The lack of a third gender option would result in transgenders not being able to apply, it said.
The Vacation Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice P.S. Teji has asked the UPSC and the Union Government’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) why the transgender category has not been included as an eligibility criterion despite the Supreme Court declaring transgenders as the third gender.
“Despite the Supreme Court judgement of April 15, 2014, you are doing this. Why? Do you want to disqualify them straight away?” the Bench asked while issuing notices to UPSC and DoPT. The Court also asked the respondents to file their reply by Wednesday, as the last date for receipt of application forms is June 19.
The public interest litigation, moved by lawyer Jamshed Ansari, has sought addition or inclusion of transgenders as an eligibility criterion in the online application forms for the examination.
Citing the SC judgment, the lawyer said it had directed the Union and State Governments to take steps to treat the transgender community as a socially and educationally backward class and to extend all reservation to them in case of admission to educational institutions and for public appointments.
The inclusion of the third gender in applications for the civil services examination would benefit transgenders, who were socially excluded from public employment, said the petition.
A petition has challenged the UPSC’s notice for
the examination scheduled for August 23 with regard to
the sex eligibility criterion for applying
