Kerala High Court rejects petition of transgender candidate seeking NCC registration, urges Center to take policy action | Legal news

However, the court noted that “ideally, transgender students should also have equal opportunities to obtain NCC training.”

She noted that NCC follows gender-specific registration as the training involves close contact, physical exercises/games and long and short camps, with the trainee’s gender being an important aspect of their overall “well-being and safety”.

A 22-year-old transgender candidate has applied for admission to 30(K)Bn National Cadet Corps Calicut. However, his nomination was canceled solely due to his “transgender” status, despite meeting all eligibility criteria.

The petitioner’s counsel, Dhanuja MS, said that rejecting nomination on the basis of gender identity violates the fundamental rights of the candidate guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

However, the state has confirmed that there is a provision that only male and female students will be registered as per the current policy.

Justice Nagaresh pointed out that Section 6 of the National Cadet Corps Act, 1948 only provides for the registration of “students of the male sex” and “students of the female sex” with no special provisions for transgender persons.

While directing that a copy of the judgment be sent to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Law and Justice to consider the issue and take necessary action, the court said: “Formation of transgender section in NCC will require minimum/sufficient number of transgender students to constitute a separate section. These are policy matters that require adequate studies, which is the function of the executive. Implementation of transgender sections in NCC will require legislative intervention as well.”