The Supreme Court on Monday stayed proceedings in high courts related to multiple petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, which they alleged grossly diluted transgender rights.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana, while staying the pending proceedings before the high courts of Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Kerala, transferred the cases to itself on a plea made by the Centre through solicitor-general Tushar Mehta.
“Issue notice…. Further proceedings before the high courts…shall remain stayed,” the CJI said.
The CJI indicated that either the top court may hear the batch of petitions or consolidate them and transfer them to one of the high courts for adjudication.
Mehta requested the transfer of proceedings from high courts to avoid conflicting verdicts. He said the apex court, too, had on May 4 issued notice on a PIL challenging the amendments to the Act, hence, the matter should ideally be dealt with by it.
The batch of petitions before the high courts and the Supreme Court had mainly challenged the amendments to the Act in 2026, which limited the definition of transgender individuals to hijra, kinner, aravani, jogta, eunuch, as well as those with congenital sex variations.
The 2026 Act seeks to amend the original 2019 Act, which had permitted an
individual to identify themselves as a “transgender” under the legal framework
of “self-identification”. However, the 2026 amendment has made it mandatory for a person to be declared transgender through a medical board verification process.