New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the central government what steps it has taken for including data of transgender prisoners in its latest prison statistics report of 2019 and those to come in future.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan asked the Centre what has it done on the issue which was brought to the attention of the government in September this year and which, according to Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, was being examined by an expert committee.

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"Take instructions and tell us by December 7 what you have done. Else we will call the committee here," the bench told the ASG.

The court was hearing a PIL by Karan Tripathi, who claims to be a legal journalist and an independent researcher in the field of criminal justice and criminology, seeking a direction to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to "make requisite policy and format amendment to include the data on transgender prisoners either in the latest Prison Statistics Report, 2019 (through revision)" or "incorporate the same in the subsequent reports, which will be published in the coming years".

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Tripathi, represented by advocate Akhil Hasija, has also sought a direction to the central government to ensure the prison authorities and departments "maintain data on transgender prisoners/inmates in each and every document/report required to be maintained by them".

The advocate, during the hearing, told the bench that his client had made a representation to the central government in September highlighting the inadequacy of data pertaining to prisoners belonging to the transgender community and prisoners who identify as a sexual minority in the Prison Statistics of India Report.

However, apart from telling him that his representation has been forwarded to a committee, he received no further response from the government, the petition has claimed.

As a result, Tripathi decided to move the high court, the petition has said.

The petition also seeks formulation of "appropriate rules/laws that will govern the protection of rights of the marginalized transgender community in the prisons".

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)