Transgender identity certificate will be treated as valid documentation for PAN Card application: Centre to SC

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The Central Government has told the Supreme Court (SC) that a 'certificate of identity' issued by the district magistrate under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, will be treated as valid documentation for applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said the government has in principle accepted this request and the Centre may consider incorporating it in the rules as well to bring clarity over the issue, reported news agency ANI.

"During the pendency of this petition, we sought a reply from the Union of India, who has been very supportive in this matter, and by and large has accepted all the demands which have been raised in the present petition, including the one that the certificate to be issued under Section 6/7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, if it is given by the district magistrate," the bench noted.

Sections 6 and 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, deal with the issue of certificates of identity and changes in gender.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by a transgender person six years ago. Reshma Prasad, a social activist from Bihar, had alleged that her attempt to link her PAN with the Aadhaar Card failed as the former has no 'third gender' option unlike the Aadhaar card. She had sought a direction to the Central Government to create a separate third-gender category option on PAN cards to enable transgender persons to link it with the Aadhaar Card to get an "accurate identity proof".

Prasad had said that she enrolled for the PAN Card in 2012 by selecting the 'male' gender identity-category and has been getting the tax return of the year 2015-16 and 2016-2017 in the same category.

She had further stated that the Aadhaar Card included the category of the third gender following an apex court verdict and she registered as a transgender person while applying for it.

PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number alloted by the I-T department to individuals and entities.

(With PTI inputs)