VIJAYAWADA: The AP High Court has directed the Home Department to instruct police officials on proper conduct while interacting with courts, lawyers, and court staff.
The court also ordered Home Secretary Kumar Vishwajeet to personally appear for the next hearing regarding the appointment of transgender candidate Ganga Bhavani to the post of Sub-Inspector (SI). The next hearing has been adjourned to October 27 by a Division Bench comprising Justices Battu Devanand and Avadhanam Hariharanath Sharma.
The case dates back to November 2018, when the SI recruitment notification did not provide reservations for transgender candidates. Ganga Bhavani, who identifies as transgender, filed a petition in 2019, stating that she had applied under the female category due to the absence of a transgender option and had scored 35% in the written test. Despite this, authorities declared her ineligible for further selection.
A single-judge bench stated it could not direct her appointment and dismissed her petition.
Challenging this, Ganga Bhavani filed an appeal before the Division Bench in 2022. The court directed the Home Secretary to submit a report on providing employment to her. At Monday’s hearing, the Home Secretary was on leave, and Special Principal Secretary Vijay Kumar appeared in his place. Vishwajeet joined online and was granted an exemption for that day. The court emphasised that he must personally appear at the next hearing on Oct 27.
