Transgender community did not get fair deal in constables' recruitment in Bihar HC

    Patna, Dec 15(PTI) The ongoing process for recruitment
of constables in Bihar fell "short of constitutional mandate"
since there was no provision for applicants falling under the
transgender category, the Patna High Court has ruled.
    The court made the observation in an order passed on
Monday whereby it directed the state government to immediately
look into the matter and take remedial measures and put on
hold finalisation of candidates' list "till further orders".
    The order was passed by a division bench comprising
Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S Kumar which pointed
out that the advertisement inviting applications "falls short
of the Constitutional mandate.... it is not clear as to
whether persons falling under the provisions of the
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 can even
apply for the post or not".
    The advertisement had put out eligibility criteria for
only "male" and "female" candidates, with no mention of those
belonging to the third gender.
    The court made the observation while hearing the
petition of one Veera Yadav who had sought clarity on whether
reservation was in place for transgender applicants on the
lines of separate quotas for the physically disabled.
    The court took note of the contention of the
government advocate that "there is no separate reservation for
the members of the Transgender Community, save and except that
for reservation they are to be considered in the category of
OBC".
    The court, however, remarked "we need not go into the
aspect of reservation, but prima facie what we find persons
belonging to the Transgender Community are totally precluded
from the process of applying for a post of a constable...."
    The bench hoped that the state would take remedial
measures in future.
    "We are hopeful that the state would adopt a sensitive
approach and immediately take remedial measures.... Equally,
the state shall ensure giving wider publicity of the action
taken to reach out to the members of such community, enabling
them to apply for the post in question", the court added,
fixing December 22 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)