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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued a notice to the Centre on a public interest litigation challenging key provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026. Chandresh Jain, a practising advocate, contested the amendments on medical and administrative verification of gender identity, which replaced self-determination with state-controlled certification. The high court will hear the case next on Jul. 22.

 

Last month, President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the 2026 Amendment Act. According to the changes, the self-declaration process for transgenders has been removed and now the law requires a "medical board" to certify gender identity. The Act provided that a revised certificate of identity may be obtained where a transgender person undergoes surgery to change gender.  

 

These changes fundamentally transform the law from a rights-based framework to a regulatory screening mechanism, said Jain. The amendments directly contradict binding constitutional jurisprudence which held that gender identity is intrinsic, personal and not subject to biological determination, said Jain.

 

The introduction of medical boards and biological criteria such as genitalia, chromosomes, and hormonal factors for determining identity is intrusive, violative of bodily integrity and incompatible with the right to decisional autonomy, said the petitioner. The redefined classification of transgender persons was overly restrictive, biologically determinative and exclusionary of individuals whose identity is based on self-perception, the petitioner said.

 

Gender identity is recognised as a form of expression, said Jain. He argued that restricting identity through certification and conditioning recognition on state approval amounts to unconstitutional restriction on expression of identity.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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