ISSUE
Whether a transgender man is entitled to have his name and gender corrected in property documents?
KEY FACTS
The petitioner, Agastya Das, was given a different name and assigned ‘female’ at birth. In 2021, he inherited land from his grandfather and the mutation certificate for the property used his old name and referred to him as ‘granddaughter’. Later, Das underwent sex reassignment surgery and obtained a certificate from the District Magistrate, Cuttack, legally recognising his change of gender from ‘female’ to ‘male’ under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 (‘2019 Act’). He further published his name change in the Tamil Nadu Gazette, and updated his PAN card, Aadhaar card, and passport to reflect the same.
Agastya Das approached the Director of Estate, Government of Odisha to request a change in his gender and name on the property mutation certificate. When the office did not accept his representation, he filed a writ petition at the Orissa High Court.
DECISION & REASONING
The Court relied on the Supreme Court’s judgments in NALSA v. Union of India and Jane Kaushik v. Union of India, along with section 7 of the 2019 Act. The Court held that many basic rights such as the right to vote, own property, marry and obtain education or employment are only available with the recognition of one’s gender identity. There is a duty on authorities for the protection, development and security of transgender persons. Since Agastya Das has already received an ID under the 2019 Act, there is no justification for refusing the correction in the property records.
So, the Court directed the authorities to change the petitioner’s name and gender in the mutation certificate, within 15 days of receiving a certified copy.
SIGNIFICANCE
The judgment reinforced that legal recognition of gender identity applies to all documents. It affirmed that legal recognition goes beyond personal identity documents, and is necessary for equal participation in civil life.