The NALSA v. Union of India (2014) is a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, delivered on April 15, 2014, that legally recognized transgender persons as the 'third gender'. The ratio decidendi of the judgment is that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India apply equally to transgender persons, and they have the right to self-identification of their gender as male, female, or third gender.
The case originated from a petition filed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and activists like Laxmi Narayan Tripathy, seeking to address the systemic discrimination faced by transgender individuals in education, employment, and healthcare due to non-recognition of their gender identity.
The judgment works by interpreting the Constitution's fundamental rights expansively: it held that discrimination against transgender persons violates Article 14 (Right to Equality). Crucially, it interpreted the term "sex" in Articles 15 and 16 to include gender identity, thereby prohibiting discrimination on that ground. The right to self-identify one's gender was affirmed as integral to the right to life and dignity under Article 21. The Court also directed the Central and State Governments to treat transgender persons as a Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) and extend reservations in educational institutions and public appointments.
The judgment connects directly to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which was enacted to provide a statutory framework. However, the 2019 Act has been criticized for being inconsistent with the NALSA judgment, particularly because it initially introduced a process for obtaining a gender identity certificate that was seen as undermining the judgment's core principle of self-determination. Furthermore, the 2019 Act did not include the provision for reservations as directed by the Supreme Court, which remains a key difference between the judgment and the subsequent legislation.