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Kerala High Court allows transgender woman to join NCC, calls for changes in enrolment criteria

Written by hindustantimes.com | Edited by Joydeep Bose
Mar 15, 2021 01:22 PM IST

This comes days after Hina Haneefa had moved a petition challenging a section of the NCC act that only allowed males and females to enrol with the cadet corps.

Kerala High Court on Monday allowed a transgender woman to seek admission into the National Cadet Corps, the youth wing of the Indian armed forces, saying the fact that the NCC act does not recognise the third gender cannot be a reasonable justification to deny entry to a trans person. This comes days after Hina Haneefa had moved a petition challenging a section of the NCC act that only allowed males and females to enrol with the cadet corps.

Members of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) march. (Mukhtar Khan / AP)
Members of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) march. (Mukhtar Khan / AP)

The single bench of Justice Anu Sivaraman said the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, recognises a transgender person's right to self-perceived gender identity. "In view of the specific provisions of the 2019 act, a transgender person has the right to be recognised not only as a transgender but also a right to self-perceived gender, i.e. the female gender," Sivaraman was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.

"The denial of enrolment is unsustainable. The petitioner will be entitled to participate in the selection process on the basis of her application. If she is successful, the petitioner will be enrolled in NCC Unit," Sivaraman was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.

The court also directed the NCC to amend its enrolment criteria and allow the provision to include transgender persons as eligible for seeking admission in the cadet corps. Necessary changes to the enrolment criteria must be made within six months, the court held.

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