Facts: This was a case where a same-sex couple in an intimate relationship had been separated and the appellant had filed a writ of habeas corpus before the High Court of Kerala on the ground that X was forcibly kept in custody of their parents despite their wishes to stay with the Appellant. The Appellant […]
SUPRIYO & ORS. V. UNION OF INDIA
Facts: There were a series of petitions filed before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (“SMA”) on the ground that Section 4(c) of the Act only recognizes marriages between a male and a female and this amounts to discrimination as it denies transgender persons and persons of the […]
NEHA SINGH V. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH
Facts: The petitioner who was employed as a woman constable in the UP Police, identified as male. Having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by an authorised medical practitioner, the Petitioner was desirous of undergoing sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and applied to the Director General of Police for sanction but received no response and therefore was […]
SHANAVI PONNUSAMY V. MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION AND ANR.
Facts: The Petitioner sought employment as a member of the cabin crew in Air India based on an advertisement for recruitment in the ‘female category’. She passed the Preliminary Medical Examination and participated in the Group Dynamics (GD) and Personality Assessment Test (PAT) but was not selected as she did not get the minimum qualifying […]
JUSTICE K.S. PUTTASWAMY VS. UNION OF INDIA
KEY FACTS: Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.), a retired judge of the Madras High Court, challenged the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme. He argued that the scheme violated the right to privacy. A three-judge bench held that a larger bench should determine whether the Constitution of India guarantees a right to privacy. A nine-judge bench decided […]
NAVTEJ SINGH JOHAR VS. UNION OF INDIA
KEY FACTS: Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalised consensual sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex for being “against the order of nature”. In 2009, before the Delhi High Court, the Naz Foundation (India) Trust (“Naz”) challenged the constitutionality of Section 377 for violating Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. The court ruled that punishing […]
NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY (NALSA) VS. UNION OF INDIA
KEY FACTS: This case was filed by the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) to legally recognize persons who fall outside the male/female gender binary, including persons who identify as “third gender”. ISSUES & DECISION: The Court had to decide whether persons who fall outside the male/female gender binary can be legally recognised as […]