New Delhi (India), August 23 (ANI): A transgender woman, presently residing in Chicago (US), has moved Delhi High court seeking a direction for re-issuance a passport in her new name identity. Her earlier passport was issued in the name of a male person. Petitioner underwent a sex reassignment surgery in 2022. Now she is being prevented from traveling to India.

Justice Subramonium Prasad on Wednesday heard the short submissions of counsels for the petitioner. They informed the court that there is some progress as there is information regarding the police verification.

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After hearing the submission Justice Prasad said, "There are a number of such cases in which transgender people are facing problems in getting passports due to changes in appearance after surgery. The process should be streamlined."

The bench also asked the centre's counsel to take instructions on the issue.

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The matter has been listed on Monday for further hearing.

The petitioner Anahita Chaudhary has moved a plea seeking a direction to the authorities to re-issue her passport with revised particulars changing her name, gender and appearance as per her application of January 18, 2023.

The application has been pending with the respondents for over six months, the plea said.

The petition moved through advocates Govind Manoharan, Samiksha Godiyal has stated that grave prejudice is occasioned to the petitioner in view of the non-issuance of the revised passport by the respondents. This is so as the petitioner, who is at present in Chicago, United States of America, is unduly prevented from travelling back to India, her home country. Asa matter of fact, the inaction on the part of the respondents has prevented the petitioner from travelling anywhere outside the USA.

The petitioner is a transgender woman who was assigned a male name and gender at birth. In 2018, the petitioner moved to the US on an H1-B visa after securing gainful employment in that country.

The petitioner transitioned between 2016 and 2022 and underwent sex reassignment surgery in 2022. Once the petitioner transitioned, she was able to legally secure a change of name and gender by way of a court order in the US. Consequently, she was able to legally rectify her name/gender/appearance as it appeared on official documentation, for instance, her Illinois driver’s license, the plea stated.

The petition has been moved against Central Government and Consulate General of India in Chicago, US.

The petitioner’s passport which was issued in 2013 reflected her name as ‘Abhishek Chaudhary’ (dead name) and gender as ‘male’. Therefore, the petitioner applied for reissuance of passport with revised particulars such as name, gender and appearance to the Consulate General of India at Chicago. The petitioner also deposited her existing passport along withher application, the petition has stated.

It is also stated that the respondents have a statutory duty under Section 5 (2) of the Passports Act, 1967 to render a decision on the application made by the Petitioner for re-issuance of her passport. Moreover, the Passport Manuals, 2020 in Clause 8.1 deals with “Change of Sex”. Pertinently, the same notes that "Change in sex from male/female to transfer does not require submission of any surgical reconstruction certificate. If an applicant claims his sex as transgender the applicant’s claim may be accepted in good faith as it is a matter of self-identity."

In the present case, the petitioner has also submitted the requisite medical certificate to demonstrate that she has undergone sex reassignment surgery (male to female SRS) along with her application, the plea said.

It is further submitted that despite various requests for updates, the respondents are yet to take a decision of the petitioner for over seven months.

On March 7, 2023, the petitioner was informed that since her case is a "gender change case" the same is pending with the Central Government. Subsequent representations/reminders to the Respondents have gone unanswered.

It is claimed that the illegal withholding of the petitioner’s application causes her grave prejudice. The petitioner has not been able to travel back to India to see her family since the onset of the pandemic, for the last three years. The undue delay in processing the petitioner’s application results in a deprivation of her right to travel abroad including her right to travel back to her home country, which is a facet of her personal liberty. Moreover, the petitioner’s passport is due to expire on December 15, 2013, however, it continues to remain deposited/illegal withheld by the respondents, the plea said.

The petitioner’s right to get a re-issuance of her passport with revised particulars is a facet of her right to self-identification protected by Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India, it added. (ANI)

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