Bhuvana Marni
Published on: 20 October 2022 at 20:24 IST
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court directed the Delhi Government to make a decision within four months over a request for the transgender community to be recognised as a third gender on DTC bus tickets and a provision for their free transportation.
An individual from the transgender community filed a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that the representation made to the Delhi Government and DTC on August 26 did not receive a response. A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad decided the case.
In order to identify the transgender population as the third gender on bus tickets distributed to commuters by conductors, the PIL asked Delhi Government and DTC for directives. Additionally, it asked for advice on how to offer free transportation on all DTC buses, including cluster, feeder, and minibuses.
When ruling on the case, the bench took note of the petitioner’s assertion that the DTC had been requested to take into account as representation a similar demand for free tickets for the transgender community in 2020. However, no decision has yet been made on the representation.
The Delhi Government was ordered by the bench to provide the petitioner’s two representations—one from August 2022 and the other from 2020—four months to be considered.
The petitioner was given permission by the bench to return to court if the State does not make a decision.
The PIL claimed that at present, there is no recognition of transgenders in bus passes adding that such individuals must be recognized as the third gender for the reason that they identify themselves as a separate and distinct gender from male and female.
Stating that persons belonging to the transgender community have to choose between the two genders for travelling in out of compulsion, the PIL adds:
“The misery of the members of the TG (transgender) community is further enhanced, when the conductor on a routine basis berates such persons for choosing the female gender, as the conductor accuses them of trying to procure free bus tickets.This causes intense trauma, agony and pain tothe persons from the TG community.”