New Delhi
The Delhi High Court has sought response of the Centre, CBSE and the Delhi University (DU) on a transgender’s plea, challenging the guidelines of these authorities for change of name and gender by a person.
The guidelines of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) say that request for such changes in its records would be entertained only if it is made before publication of the result, the petition said.
The university norms, on the other hand, say that for change of name and gender, the same have to be first altered in the records of the board.
The petition further said that the Department of Publications of the Centre requires that a sex reassignment surgery be undergone before change of name and gender.
The petitioner was assigned the male gender at birth but identifies self as a transgender.
His plea alleged that the criteria laid down by the various authorities for change of name and gender are “arbitrary and unreasonable”. He also claimed that the Supreme Court had in 2014 held that insistence on a sex reassignment surgery for declaring one’s gender was illegal and immoral.