'Serious Concern': Gauhati High Court On Plea Against Lack Of Medical Assistance, Reconstructive Surgery Facility For Transgender Persons

The Gauhati High Court on Friday asked the Union Government and Assam Government to apprise it about the issue of failure to address the medical needs of the members of the Transgender community living in Assam, specifically, extending the facility of reconstructive surgery.

The division bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Mridul Kumar Kalita observed,

“…we are of the view that the concern raised in this petition is of serious nature and calls for immediate attention of the concerned authorities. Instead of treating this as adversarial litigation, an effort should be made by all concerned, so as to find out ways and means for suitably addressing the grievance of the members of the Transgender community within the legal framework existing in the country and in furtherance of the scheme(s) framed by the Central Government and the State Government, to that end.”

The Court was hearing a PIL filed by Advocate Swati Bidhan Baruah contending that although there is a Central Government scheme permitting the members of the community to avail the benefits of reconstructive surgery, due to lack of proper guidelines and clear instructions, neither the Central Government nor the State Government of Assam is coming forward with any concrete step so as to redress the grievance of the transgender community in this regard.

The petitioner further submitted that due to such confusion, not only the rights guaranteed under Section 15(g) of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 but even the fundamental right of the members of the community as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution are being violated.

Court has requested Advocate General D. Saikia to render assistance in the matter and it further directed the Deputy Solicitor General of India to obtain specific instruction on the issues by September 26.

Case Title: Swati Bidhan Baruah v. The State of Assam & 2 Ors.

Case No.: PIL/74/2018

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