Overview
- India’s upper house, which passed the bill on Wednesday after the Lok Sabha’s Tuesday voice vote, sent it to President Droupadi Murmu for assent.
- The amendment narrows who counts as a transgender person by tying recognition to specified biological traits or traditional identities such as hijra or kinner, excluding people who rely on self-identification and many trans men, trans women and genderqueer people.
- The law sets up a government medical board to advise on identity and gives district magistrates discretion to issue certificates, with hospitals required to report gender‑affirming procedures to local authorities.
- The bill raises punishments for offences against the newly defined group, introducing graded penalties with maximum terms reported up to 14 years and adding crimes such as forced mutilation and coercion into begging or labour.
- A Supreme Court‑constituted advisory panel led by Justice Asha Menon urged the government Wednesday to withdraw the bill for clashing with the Court’s 2014 NALSA ruling on self‑identification, as opposition parties, rights groups and community networks vowed legal challenges and continued nationwide protests.