Transgender Cards Remain Valid, Supreme Court Assures Centre on New Law

The Supreme Court on Monday orally indicated to the Union government that transgender identity cards issued under earlier legislation would not be invalidated automatically or with retrospective effect by a new law that petitioners say dismantles the community's right to self-identification.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was hearing a challenge to the 2026 Amendment Act, which came into force on March 30. Petitioners, including activists and community members, argue that the statute hands the state unfettered authority to determine gender identity.

During the hearing, a lawyer who identified as a member of the transgender community told the Bench that the card forms an essential part of her basic identity. "Every day I struggle. It is a struggle to even get a house to live in," she said. Justice Joymalya Bagchi responded that the court was concerned about the community's rights.

The petitioners contend that Section 3 of the 2026 Act has omitted the right to self-perceived gender identity, undoing by legislative means the principle upheld in the Supreme Court's 2014 NALSA judgment. That ruling recognised the right of transgender persons to a self-determined gender identity and protection from discrimination and social stigma, and led to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which largely embodied the self-identification principle.

"Even if there is a change in legislation, the rights conferred or accrued must remain the same," Justice Bagchi told the Centre, which was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The Bench also observed that had the legislative intent been to do away with transgender cards, a clarificatory amendment would have been expected, which the 2026 statute does not contain.

Mr. Mehta sought more time to examine the law closely before responding, noting that a lack of clarity about gender could create problems in matters of succession and inheritance. He also questioned the petitioners' insistence on a specific interim direction to preserve the validity of the transgender card, saying the document was not comparable to a ration card, where the consequence is loss of food.

The petitioners, among them Laxminarayan Tripathi — the first transgender person from the Asia-Pacific region to address the United Nations General Assembly and a leader of the first transgender participation at the Kumbh Mela — have asked whether the state, through legislation, may define who a person is and substitute its own biological or sociomedical classification for a person's lived, autonomous and self-perceived identity.