Ambika bhardwaj
Published On: January 23, 2022 at 12:47 IST
The Supreme Court in the Case of Kajal Managal Mukhi v. Union of India and Another released a notice to the Central Government in response to a Petition seeking strict and severe punishment for Crimes against Transgender people.
The Petition questioned the Constitutionality of “Section 18 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019”, which establishes a list of Crimes against the Transgender people and the Penalties that can be imposed.
A Division Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai sought the response of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and tagged the Petition with other related pending Cases that challenged the Constitutionality of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
The Petition was lodged by Advocate Shantanu Kumar who stated that Section 18 of the Act provides ineffective punishment and penalties for Crimes against transgender people.
Crimes committed against Transgender people must be categorised and punished in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Bonded Labour (System Abolition) Act 1976 and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.
Further, the Petition claimed that Section 18 violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution, as well as the Right Against Discrimination established by the Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India (2014).
It was stated by the Petitioner that Section 18 does not address the Discriminatory treatment that Transgender people face on a daily basis and speaks about Discrimination of only a specific nature.
The Petition also mentioned that even after the passage of the 2019 Act, Crimes against Transgender people are on the rise with the primary reason being ineffective punishment for Crimes committed against them.
Advocate on Record Shantanu Kumar and Advocate Dipti Singh represented the Petitioner.
Also read: LGBTQ Rights in India and Acknowledgment