Delhi HC takes note of transgenders’ woes in securing passport after sex change

NEW DELHI: Transgender persons who undergo sex reassignment surgery face difficulties in acquiring fresh passports due to change in appearance. This issue needs to be streamlined, Delhi High Court said on Wednesday.

Justice Subramonium Prasad made the remark while hearing a plea by a transgender, who approached the court and sought a direction to the authorities to re-issue her passport with her revised particulars, including new name and gender, since her appearance changed after undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

“Similar problems are arising in several matters and these people are suffering because of the lack of a passport after they changed their gender because then their appearance changes. It needs some streamlining,” the judge said, asking the authorities to look into it.

The petitioner, who was a male by birth, said she moved to the US in 2018 after securing employment there and transitioned from man to woman between 2016 and 2022, after which she was able to legally secure a change of name and gender by way of a court order in that country.

She submitted an application to the Indian authorities on January 18, 2023 for re-issuance of the passport with revised particulars changing her name and gender, but it is pending for over six months. The counsel for the external affairs ministry and Consulate General of India in Chicago in the US submitted that the application of the petitioner has been processed and it is pending for police verification.

The court then granted time to the Centre’s counsel to get instructions from the authorities and listed the matter for further hearing on August 28. The petitioner, represented by advocate Arundhati Katju, said grave prejudice has been caused to her due to non-issuance of the revised passport as she is currently in Chicago and is unable to travel back to her home country or go anywhere outside the US.

“Once the petitioner transitioned, she was able to legally secure a change of name and gender by way of a court order in the United States. Consequently, she was able to legally rectify her name/gender/appearance as it appeared on official documentation, for instance, her Illinois driver’s licence…However, the petitioner’s passport which was issued in 2013 reflected her name as … and gender as ‘male’. Therefore, the petitioner applied for reissuance of passport with revised particulars such as name, gender and appearance to the 2nd respondent (Consulate General of India) through their agency VFS Global. The petitioner also deposited her existing passport along with her application,” the petition said.

The petitioner has also submitted the requisite medical certificate to demonstrate that she has undergone a sex reassignment surgery, it added.

Courtesy : TOI

Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right