Change gender,but not history,court orders ‘girl’

The student of Modern School,Barakhamba Road wanted to change the details on marksheets.

While approving the issuance of declaration for change of gender and name for a man who had undergone a sex reassignment surgery,a Delhi court held that it would not be correct to change his gender on his school records as it would amount to changing history.

The plea was filed by a Bangalore resident who had undergone a sex change surgery in 2008 in Chennai. He had asked the court to direct Central Board of Secondary Education and Modern School,Barakhamba Road,to change the details on the marksheets issued by them. The petitioner had cleared his higher secondary examination in 1987 and was a girl at the time.

After the operation,the man sent a legal notice to CBSE in 2010 asking them to modify their records. They did not do so.

The CBSE opposed the plea arguing that the certificates had been prepared based on the information given by the complainant in 1987. The Board said its bylaws had no provision for changing or issuing fresh certificates on account of change in name or gender.

The court noted that the relationship between the complainant and CBSE was severed in 1987,and therefore the Board held no obligation towards him.

The grant of the mandatory injunction,as prayed for,would amount to alteration of history and (also) the plaintiff has no right to have retrospective benefit of change of gender and name, Civil Judge Jay Thareja said.

He held that the complainant was entitled to a declaration from the court that his name and gender had been changed.

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If any public authority refuses to accept the name and gender change of the plaintiff or the legitimacy of the mark-sheets and certificates of CBSE… the remedy for the plaintiff would be to agitate his grievance against such public authority in an appropriate forum, the judge said.

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sex reassignment surgery