Is the State ready to legislate for sex determination of a person who undergoes a sex reassignment surgery ? : Allahabad HC questions
Prayagraj – The Allahabad High Court recently questioned whether the State Government is ready to enact laws or regulations to determine the gender of individuals who undergo sex reassignment surgery. The question arose during the hearing of a plea by a transgender petitioner who sought to update his name, gender, and other details in his school records following sex reassignment surgery.
Justice Alok Mathur stated that it is up to the Union or State Governments to determine whether a person can be considered male solely based on undergoing reassignment surgery. He emphasised that the legislature should establish laws or regulations specifying the factors that determine a person’s sex, whether it is the presence of XX or XY chromosomes, or specific physical characteristics. The Court questioned whether the State Government is prepared to introduce legislation on this matter.
The petitioner informed the Court that he had voluntarily undergone surgery to affirm his gender as male. He subsequently changed his name to Vedanta Maurya and published the change in the Government of India Gazette last year. Following this, he applied to the Prayagraj Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to update his records, but the board took no action. As a result, he filed a petition in the High Court. The Court then ordered the Prayagraj Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to consider the petitioner’s application and take a decision within four weeks. The next hearing of this case is scheduled for September 18th .