The Kerala High Court has ordered the state government to implement reservation for transgender persons in education and government jobs within six months. The order was given during the hearing of a case involving Anera Kabir vs State of Kerala and others. The division bench of Justice Muhammad Mustaq and Justice P Krishna Kumar expressed displeasure that despite the Supreme Court decision, the state government has not yet taken steps to implement it.
The bench said that despite the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in the NALSA case, the Kerala government has not taken necessary steps to ensure reservation for the transgender community. The Court stressed that reservation is necessary for the inclusion of a historically marginalized community.
Ignoring transgenders in government employment
The division bench said in its order that reservation for transgenders has not been provided in any notification related to government employment. He said that the transgender community deserves inclusion in education and employment for development. The Court also said that in view of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the National Legal Services Authority case, the government should not delay in providing reservation.
People of the transgender community had filed a petition in the High Court on the complaint of not being given reservation in education and employment. During the hearing, the Court also noted that despite various interim orders, enactment of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and framing of rules by the Government of Kerala in 2020, the Government has failed to resolve the issue of reservation.
