CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the state government to appoint complaints officers in all departments to redress the grievances of transgender persons and sought to know whether such officers were already nominated as per the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
“The state counsel shall also state as to whether a complaint officer, as envisaged under Section 11 of the Act of 2019 has been established. Appropriate instructions, in this regard, may be issued to all departments to designate a person to be a complaint officer to deal with the complaints relating to the violation of the provisions of the Act of 2019,” the first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan said in a recent order passed on the petitions filed by activist Fred Rogers in this regard.
The bench also suo motu impleaded the National Council for Transgender Persons under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and issued notices seeking its response within three weeks.
Rogers, in his petition filed in 2024, sought proactive measures from the state to fulfil its statutory obligations under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
The prayers included directions to the authorities concerned, including the secretary of Health and Family Welfare department, to formulate and implement technical and operational protocols for gender affirmative care procedures, after due open public consultations, as per the latest World Professional Association for Transgender Health Guidelines (WPATH) Standards of Care and declare any unethical practice/technical or operational protocol which are not in line with WPATH Standards of Care.