The Kerala High Court ruled that a Transgender person is allowed to be admitted to National Cadet Corps (NCC) based on her self-perceived gender identity. The Court made the judgment while considering a petition filed by a transwoman, Hina Haneefa questioning Section 6 of the National Cadet Corps Act, 1948, which permits only 'males' or 'females' to enroll as cadets with NCC.
Earlier, Haneefa had applied for admission based on her self-perceived gender, which is female, since NCC did not consider the third gender due to the absence of the provision.
The Court stated, "I believe that the petitioner who had opted for the female gender and has undergone sex-reassignment surgery for aiding her self-perception would definitely be allowed to enrolment in NCC unit reckoning her as a transgender and also as a member of her self-perceived gender, i.e female gender." The Court further added that the NCC Act cannot prevent the operations of the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
The current situation has to be considered under the 2019 Act, which recognises the right of a transgender person to have a life with dignity, stressed the court. The Court even said that the lack of provisions of the NCC Act cannot justify the act of denying admission to the petitioner to the NCC based on the identity card furnished by her.
Under the Kerala government's Transgender Policy, 2015, Hina Haneefa, the petitioner, had obtained her transgender identity card and had even undergone two sex reassignment surgeries.
