By February 2023, the Maharashtra government will frame the rules setting the standards for the physical tests of transgender candidates for the police constable post.
Mumbai,UPDATED: Dec 10, 2022 01:57 IST
Arya Pujari and Nikita Mukhyadal took the legal course to make sure that the state included the third gender option for recruitment to public posts.
By Vidya : The Maharashtra government on Friday told the Bombay High Court that transgenders can apply for the post of police constable and it would frame rules setting standards for their physical tests by February 2023.
This comes a day after a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Abhay Ahuja rapped the government for lagging behind in framing rules for the last seven years.
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION IN 2 MONTHS
While passing a detailed order, the Bombay High Court specified that the state should take physical examinations of all the students in the next two months, including the two transgender candidates, Arya Pujari and Nikita Mukhyadal.
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Pujari and Mukhyadal had taken a legal course to make sure that the state included the third gender option for recruitment to public posts.
The bench said that by the time the physical examination gets over, the state should have formulated rules for induction of transgenders. If that does not happen, then the written examination to complete the recruitment process could get jeopardised. The state agreed to do the needful at the earliest by setting up a committee.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the bench that the government would modify its online website within the next few days by which a third drop down for transgenders would be included in the category of “sex” while filling out the online application form.
Two posts for police constable would be kept vacant for transgenders, he said. “The last date to submit the forms for everyone is extended till December 15. By December 13, the third drop down would be added for anyone else who wants to apply apart from Pujari and Mukhyadal”, Kumbhakoni said.
The bench in its order said the government should frame its rules by February 28, 2023, and then hold physical tests and finally the written tests. “It is directed that till rules are framed and physical tests are conducted, the state shall not proceed to conduct written tests,” the bench said.
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WHAT IS THE CASE?
The court was hearing a petition filed by the Maharashtra government against the tribunal’s order directing it to create a provision for transgenders in the application form for posts under the home department.
The Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) on November 14 while hearing applications filed by Arya Pujari and Nikita Mukhyadal, directed the state government to create a third option for transgenders. The third option will come after the two options of male and female in the application form for all recruitments under the home department.
The tribunal had also said the government should fix the criteria for physical standards and tests for transgenders.
The high court in its order said the two transgenders who had filed the application before the tribunal could submit their applications offline. The court modified one part of the tribunal’s order by which it had directed the government to create provision for transgenders to apply in all posts under the home department. The bench said the tribunal had gone beyond its jurisdiction while passing such a directive.
Speaking to India Today after the order was passed, Pujari thanked the court for its order and said that they wanted to become the first transgender in Maharashtra to be recruited into the police service.
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