New Delhi, March 13 A bill seeking to provide a precise definition of the term "transgender" and provide graded punishments that reflect the severity of the harm inflicted upon such persons was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
It also emphasizes that a transgender person "shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities."
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill was introduced by Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar.
It notes that it is imperative to provide a precise definition for proper and definitive identification and protection of transgender persons, to whom the benefits of the present law must reach.
The protection and benefits provided under the current 2019 law are extensive in nature, and therefore, care must be taken that "such identification cannot be extended based on any acquirable characteristics or personal choice or claimed self-perceived identity of an individual."
The bill also contains provisions for "designating an authority" which will have the option to seek "expert advice" if required.
A new clause defines "authority" as a medical board headed by a chief medical officer or a deputy chief medical officer appointed by the central government, state government, or a Union territory administration.
The bill noted that over time, during the implementation of the transgender protection law, "certain doubts and difficulties have arisen and are likely to arise" regarding the "scope of the definition" of transgender persons.
It inserts a new sub-clause to define a transgender person as one having socio-cultural identities as 'kinner', 'hijra', 'aravani', or 'jogta', or a eunuch, or a person with intersex variations, or a person who, at birth, has a congenital variation in one or more sex characteristics as compared to male or female development, will be defined as a transgender.
Also, any person or child who has been, by force, lure, inducement, deceit, or undue influence, either with or without consent, compelled to assume, adopt, or outwardly present a transgender identity, by mutilation, emasculation, castration, amputation, or any surgical, chemical, or hormonal procedure, or otherwise, will be included in the definition.
"Provided that it shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities," it emphasizes.
It states that the present law prohibits discrimination and abuse against transgender persons but its penal provision addresses only general wrongs and criminal offences and prescribes a maximum of two years' imprisonment.
It does not adequately address offences of "exceptional gravity" that have been documented in practice.
The abduction of adults and children, the infliction of reversible or irreversible bodily harm upon them through mutilation, emasculation, castration, hormone therapies, or other similar therapies or chemical alteration, and their forced assumption of a transgender identity are covered under scattered provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
However, no existing provision treats this conjunction of abduction, permanent bodily harm, and forced identity as a unified penal approach.
The bill proposes to create specific offences with graded punishments that reflect the severity of the harm, the irreversibility of the injury, and the particular vulnerability of child victims.
The draft law also seeks to empower transgender persons to make consequential changes in official documents.
The person who has been issued a certificate of identity and is so declared as a transgender person will be entitled to change the first name in the birth certificate and all other official documents relating to their identity.