38.6c New Delhi, India, Saturday, September 06, 2025
Top Stories Supreme Court
Political NEWS Legislative Corner Celebstreet International Videos
Subscribe Contact Us
close
Judiciary

SC notice to Centre on plea to safeguard interests of intersex children

By Jhanak Sharma      08 April, 2024 04:35 PM      0 Comments
SC notice to Centre on plea to safeguard interests of intersex children

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL for putting in place legislative mechanism to safeguard interests of intersex children and regulating medical interventions, including sex reassignment surgeries.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to assist the court in dealing with the PIL filed by Gopi Shankar M.  

The court sought a response on from the Union government as advocates Astha Deep and Sujeet Ranjan on behalf of the petitioner said there was a need for a legislative mechanism at the Central level to deal with situations regarding medical interference with the intersex child.

"In other jurisdictions, such medical interventions are punishable offences and a special team of doctors have to determine whether sex determination surgery is an urgent or not until the child attains the age of informed consent, the counsel said.

The counsel said the sex-determination surgeries are being performed with the consent of the parents of infants in several states and it was only in Tamil Nadu that such surgeries have been banned by the Madras High Court until the child attains the age of giving informed consent.

The plea said the intersex people are those born with sex characteristics, including genitals, gonads (reproductive glands such as ovaries or testicles) and chromosome patterns, that do not fit with typical binary notions of male or female bodies.

The plea contended that people with intersex characteristics have been facing various challenges due to the usage of the terms sex and gender interchangeably.

It also contended the judgment in National Legal Services Authority Vs Union of India and Ors (2014), requires to be overruled to the extent of the use of the terms 'Sex and gender interchangeably and also the use of the term transgender as an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity lies outside the compartments of sexual binary.

It is pertinent to note that there can be many ways in which an individual may not conform to the prevailing gender norms and may feel an inherent sense of gender identity that differs from their sex assigned at birth, the petitioner said.

There is no uniform policy across the country with respect to the children with non-binary sex identities and most of the hospitals are clueless regarding how to deal with such a situation, the plea said.

It also said there are no specific records or rules for the adoption of an intersex child. Even adoption and shelter homes do not have specific care for intersex children. The abandonment of intersex children from the family happens in many cases, the plea claimed.

There is also no proper framework to include people with intersex identities in census and inclusion of persons with diverse sex identities as transgender in the column of sex for Census is incorrect as transgender is a gender identity, it contended.

The petitioner made the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Central Adoption Resource Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India as parties in the PIL.

The plea said United Nations has used the definition of sex as the physical and biological characteristics that distinguish males and females from each other along with from other non-binary sex identities. While the term gender has been defined by the United Nations as referring to the roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society at a given time considers appropriate for men and women that are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes.

The petitioner said, being a South Regional representative of the National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP) has been facing a lot of issues arising out of the indiscriminate use of the terms Sex and Gender interchangeably.

 



Share this article:

About:

Jhanak is a lawyer by profession and legal journalist by passion. She graduated at the top of her cl...Read more

Follow:
FacebookTwitterLinkedinInstagram


Leave a feedback about this
Related Posts
View All

Another CBI Officer Investigating Rakesh Asthana Moves SC Against Transfer, Makes Startling Revelations Another CBI Officer Investigating Rakesh Asthana Moves SC Against Transfer, Makes Startling Revelations

After A.K. Bassi, another CBI officer who was investigating corruption allegations against Special Director Rakesh Asthana moved the Supreme Court.

Ayodhya verdict: SC rules in favour of Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board gets alternate land Ayodhya verdict: SC rules in favour of Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board gets alternate land

SC bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi has allotted the dispute site to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, while directing the government to allot an alternate 5 acre land within Ayodhya to Sunni Waqf Board to build a mosque.

Supreme Court: Money Spent On Judiciary Less Than 1% In All States Except Delhi Supreme Court: Money Spent On Judiciary Less Than 1% In All States Except Delhi

The court guided all states to document their response to the commission's report within four weeks. If any of the states fail to file a response, it will be presumed that they have no objections to the recommendations made by the commission, the court said.

Supreme Court Top Panel Names Chief Justices for Bombay, Orissa and Meghalaya High Courts Supreme Court Top Panel Names Chief Justices for Bombay, Orissa and Meghalaya High Courts

On April 18, 2020, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended new Chief Justices for three High Courts. Justice Dipankar Datta was proposed as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, succeeding Justice B.P. Dharmadhikari. Justice Biswanath Somadder was nominated as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, while Justice Mohammad Rafiq was recommended for transfer as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.

TRENDING NEWS

delhi-itat-clears-37-cr-demonetization-cash-deposits-of-jeweller-dismisses-revenues-appeal
Trending Executive
Delhi ITAT Clears ₹3.7 Cr Demonetization Cash Deposits of Jeweller, Dismisses Revenue’s Appeal [Read Order]

Delhi ITAT upholds jeweller’s ₹3.7 cr demonetization cash deposits, ruling them genuine sales; dismisses Revenue’s appeal under Sec 68.

05 September, 2025 11:45 AM
delhi-hc-grants-injunction-to-astrologer-trishla-chaturvedi-orders-removal-of-defamatory-videos-against-trishla-maa
Trending Judiciary
Delhi HC Grants Injunction to Astrologer Trishla Chaturvedi, Orders Removal of Defamatory Videos Against ‘Trishla Maa’ [Read Order]

Delhi HC grants injunction to astrologer Trishla Chaturvedi, orders removal of defamatory videos and restrains further posts against her.

05 September, 2025 12:02 PM

TOP STORIES

sc-approves-ecs-move-to-accept-claims-or-objections-to-draft-electoral-rolls-beyond-sep-1
Trending Judiciary
SC approves EC's move to accept claims or objections to draft electoral rolls beyond Sep 1

SC allows EC to accept claims and objections to Bihar draft electoral rolls even after Sept 1 deadline, till last date of nominations.

01 September, 2025 02:54 PM
sc-declines-to-entertain-pil-against-20-per-cent-ethanol-blended-petrol-e20-fuel
Trending Judiciary
SC declines to entertain PIL against 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol, E20 fuel

SC declines PIL against Centre’s E20 fuel rollout, upholding ethanol-blended petrol policy despite concerns on efficiency and vehicle damage.

01 September, 2025 03:01 PM
sc-notice-on-tns-plea-against-hcs-judgment-on-implementation-of-rte-act
Trending Judiciary
SC notice on TN's plea against HC's judgment on implementation of RTE Act

SC issues notice on Tamil Nadu plea against Madras HC order making state solely liable for RTE Act funding, seeks Centre’s response.

01 September, 2025 04:35 PM
sc-upholds-telanganas-4-year-residence-rule-to-avail-domicile-quota-in-medical-admissions
Trending Judiciary
SC upholds Telangana's 4-year residence rule to avail domicile quota in medical admissions [Read Judgment]

SC upholds Telangana’s rule requiring 4 years of study in the state for availing domicile quota in MBBS and BDS admissions.

01 September, 2025 06:02 PM

ADVERTISEMENT


Join Group

Signup for Our Newsletter

Get Exclusive access to members only content by email