Transgender community did not get fair deal in constables' recruitment in Bihar: HC

PATNA: The ongoing process for recruitment of constables in Bihar fell "short of constitutional mandate" since there was no provision for applicants falling under the transgender category, the Patna High Court has ruled.

The court made the observation in an order passed on Monday whereby it directed the state government to immediately look into the matter and take remedial measures and put on hold finalisation of candidates'' list "till further orders".

The order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S Kumar which pointed out that the advertisement inviting applications "falls short of the Constitutional mandate.... it is not clear as to whether persons falling under the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 can even apply for the post or not".

The advertisement had put out eligibility criteria for only "male" and "female" candidates, with no mention of those belonging to the third gender.

The court made the observation while hearing the petition of one Veera Yadav who had sought clarity on whether reservation was in place for transgender applicants on the lines of separate quotas for the physically disabled.

The court took note of the contention of the government advocate that "there is no separate reservation for the members of the Transgender Community, save and except that for reservation they are to be considered in the category of OBC".

The court, however, remarked "we need not go into the aspect of reservation, but prima facie what we find persons belonging to the Transgender Community are totally precluded from the process of applying for a post of a constable...."

The bench hoped that the state would take remedial measures in future.

"We are hopeful that the state would adopt a sensitive approach and immediately take remedial measures.... Equally, the state shall ensure giving wider publicity of the action taken to reach out to the members of such community, enabling them to apply for the post in question", the court added, fixing December 22 as the next date of hearing in the matter.