Trans teacher in Gujarat and UP terminated, SC issues notice
Updated: Jan 3rd, 2024
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| Image: IANS |
“No government or private entity can discriminate against a transgender person in employment matters” says the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act. However, on ground level, the situation seems different.
On Jan 3, the SC agreed to examine a plea filed by a transgender teacher whose services were “unlawfully” terminated by two different private schools in the last year solely on account of her gender identity.
“We will see what we can do,” said a bench presided over by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), DY Chandrachud, as it issued notices to the union government, the state governments of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, and others in the matter.
Jamnagar school gets a notice
The JP Modi School in Gujarat’s Jamnagar indicated to the petitioner that her being a transgender woman would be an issue in employing her.
Though an appointment letter as an English teacher was issued, the school did not allow her to join merely based on her gender.
“The intervention of this Hon’ble Court at this stage is urgent. The protections of the TPPR Act, 2019 and the TPPR Rules, 2020 are not trickling to the ground,” the plea said.
Similar case in UP
In Uttar Pradesh, a plea, filed through advocate Yashraj Singh Deora, stated that the petitioner was forced to resign after the staff and students at a school in UP became aware of her transgender identity.
It said, “The actions of Respondent No 5 (Uma Devi Children’s Academy, Uttar Pradesh) in illegally terminating the petitioner are contrary to the spirit and provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) [TPPR] Act, 2019, and this also outright violates the Uttar Pradesh Intermediate Education Act, 1921.”
The bench, comprising the CJI and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, directed the notice to be served to the union of India, the state governments, and the schools to seek their response on the matter.
(Source: IANS)
-Edited for style
