The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that a ‘certificate of identity’ issued by a district magistrate under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, will be recognized as valid documentation for applying for a PAN card. A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah noted that the Union of India has, in principle, accepted this request. The Union government is also considering incorporating this provision into the rules for greater clarity.

“While this petition was pending, we sought a response from the Union of India, which has been largely supportive of the issues raised. They have generally accepted the requests made in this petition, including the provision that a certificate issued under Sections 6 and 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, will be acceptable if provided by the district magistrate,” the bench stated.

Sections 6 and 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, pertain to the issuance of certificates of identity and gender changes. The Supreme Court was hearing a 2018 plea filed by a transgender individual, who claimed that her attempt to link her PAN card with Aadhaar had failed because the PAN card did not have a ‘third gender’ option, unlike the Aadhaar card.

Reshma Prasad, a social activist from Bihar, sought a directive from the Centre to create a separate third-gender category on PAN cards, enabling transgender individuals like her to link it with Aadhaar for accurate identity proof.

Prasad had initially enrolled for a PAN card in 2012, selecting the male gender category, and received tax returns for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17 under the male category. However, following a Supreme Court ruling, the Aadhaar system included a third-gender option, and she subsequently registered as transgender in Aadhaar.