Supreme Court-appointed panel asks Centre to withdraw new Transgender Amendment Bill
A Supreme Court-appointed committee has urged the Indian government to withdraw the recently passed Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026. This development follows the bill’s parliamentary approval on March 25, 2026, amid concerns over its provisions.
The panel, led by retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon, was established last year by a Supreme Court bench including Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan (or KV Viswanathan in some reports). It was formed during a case on discrimination against a transgender teacher, tasked with addressing barriers in employment, healthcare, public services, and implementation of the 2019 Transgender Act.
The committee objects to the bill’s removal of self-identification for gender, replacing it with a system requiring district magistrates and medical authorities to issue certificates, which it sees as a privacy violation and “huge setback” conflicting with the 2014 NALSA judgment. It also criticizes new penal provisions as redundant, since existing laws already cover them, and notes limited consultation with transgender communities.
The panel sent its resolution on March 20, 2026, before passage, but no government representative attended their meeting. It recommends wider stakeholder consultations for future changes. The bill, introduced by Minister Virendra Kumar, has sparked protests from the transgender community.
