Certificates Issued Under Transgender Persons Act 2019 Acceptable For PAN Card Applications : Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently suggested that the Union of India should incorporate provisions allowing certificates for identity and gender change issued under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 as valid documentation for applying for a PAN card into the relevant Rules.

A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah said this while disposing of an SLP seeking reliefs for members of the LGBT community, especially transgender persons, regarding the application process for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

The Court observed said that the Union of India largely accepted the petitioner's demands including accepting the aforementioned certificates as valid documentation.

The Court observed, “During the pendency of this petition, we sought a reply from Union of India, who has been very supportive in this matter and by and large has accepted all the demands which have been raised in the present petition including the one, that the certificate to be issued under Section 6/7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 will be acceptable, if it is given by the District Magistrate. Since the Union of India has in principle accepted this request, UoI may consider incorporating in Rules as well, in order to bring clarity.”

As per Section 6 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, the District Magistrate can issue a Certificate of Identity to a transgender person. As per Section 7, the District Magistrate can issue issue a certificate indicating change in gender.

The Income Tax Rules, 1962 govern the application process for allotment for PAN.

The petitioner had sought that the application form for a PAN card be updated to include a "third gender" option, aligning with the categories available on the Aadhaar card. The petitioner argued that the failure to provide a "third gender" option on the PAN card application form, unlike the Aadhaar card, created difficulties in linking the two documents.

Supreme Court in March 2018 had sought the assistance of the Attorney General of India to address the concerns raised by Prasad.

The petitioner had originally challenged a notification by the Union of India, Department of Finance, mandating linking of Aadhaar with PAN before the Patna High Court.

The Patna High Court had dismissed the writ petition, citing that the matter was already under consideration by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court concerning the broader issue of Aadhaar's linkage with various services. The petitioner challenged this order in the present SLP before the Supreme Court.