NCRB To Include Transgender People As A Category In Gender Classification Of Prisoners: Delhi HC

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) informed Delhi High Court on Monday that it has agreed to include transgender as separate category in the gender classification of prisoners in their annual publication of Prison Statistics India 2020. This comes as a follow up to the public suit which was filed in Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the National Crime Records Bureau to identify and classify transgenders as a separate third gender in their annual publication of prison statistics.

The public interest litigation was filed by Karan Tripathi, a law graduate who had sought prompt and urgent intervention of the court as data for the succeeding Prison Statistics Report 2020 is underway. Tripathi was represented by Advocate Akhil Hasija.

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National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) informs Delhi High Court that it has agreed to include transgender as a separate category in the gender classification of prisoners in their annual publication of prison statistics 2020. pic.twitter.com/g7xtFwqpzQ

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2020

What You Should Know

• NCRB will now include the third gender as a separate category in its Prison Statistics India report.
• The public suit was filed by Karan Tripathi.
• Tripathi is represented by Advocate Akhil Hasija.

Transgender As Separate Category- The Rights And Verdict

The petition was brought up as a virtual hearing before the bench of the Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.  A statement to this effect was put forward by Additional General Chetan Sharma before the Division Bench.

ASG Chetan Sharma stated that NCRB has issued a communication bringing forward that it intended to classify prisoners as male, female and transgenders from its 2020 Prison Statistics India report. According to NCRB, the officials have been directed to put together the collection of data in tandem with the recent decision of including the third gender as a category in the Prison Statistics India report. In view of the decision, the PIL by Tripathi was disposed of.

The suit was filed in line with the National Legal Services Authority V Union of India judgment by the Supreme Court. The landmark judgment declared transgender people the 'third gender' and gave them the right of self-identification of male, female, or third gender.  The petitioner relied heavily on this judgment and argued that unless transgender inmates were recognised, the declaration passed by the Apex Court to protect their rights could not be implemented.

Moreover, the petitioner also argued that the inclusion of the third gender in the Prison Statistics India report was imperative for ensuring the rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India.

Also Read: Centre Launched A Portal For Transgender Community To Get Identity Certificate Online

Sanskriti Tiwari is an intern with SheThePeople.TV.