Vijayawada: The high court on Monday criticised the police for not filing the report on the decision taken regarding the representation given by transgender Ganga Bhavani, who sought to have her application for the SI post considered. The court summoned principal secretary for home, Kumar Viswajit, to appear before it on the next date of the hearing.
Ganga Bhavani moved the high court in 2019, contending that no option for transgender individuals was given in the application for the sub-inspector (SI) eligibility test. The counsel for the petitioner, Salmon Raju, told the court that the petitioner was born male but later, through a sex change operation, became a transgender.
In the application for the SI eligibility test, only male and female options were provided, and no option was available for transgenders. In the absence of an option, the petitioner applied as female, participated in the written examination, and secured eligible marks under the BC category. However, the petitioner was not allowed to proceed to the next stage of the selection process. Challenging this, Ganga Bhavani filed a petition, but the high court dismissed it.
Challenging the dismissal of the petition, Ganga Bhavani filed an appeal petition. A division bench of the high court on Dec 12, 2024, directed the police department to make a decision on Ganga Bhavani’s representation in accordance with the decisions taken by the home department on Nov 22 and asked for a report to be filed on the same.
On Oct 6, the HC bench comprising Justices Battu Devanand and Hariharanatha Sharma expressed displeasure with the home secretary as no report was filed and directed the home secretary to appear before them. On Monday, additional advocate general Sambasiva Prasad informed the bench that home secretary Kumar Viswajit could not attend physically and appeared in virtual mode. While allowing Viswajit’s request, the HC directed him to appear physically on the next date of hearing.
Courtesy : TOI
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