Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court’s Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao issued an interim stay on the ongoing Group IV recruitment process on Wednesday, pending the outcome of several writ petitions regarding the provision of reservations for transgender individuals.
The court took this decision while hearing three petitions filed by Devanth Tanusri and others.
The petitioners challenged the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPSC) for not providing horizontal reservations for transgender persons in the Group IV services recruitment. They argued that the current reservation policy, as outlined by the TGPSC and the applicable service rules, does not comply with the requirements set by the Supreme Court in its landmark NALSA judgment, which recognized the rights of transgender individuals.
The petitioners contended that the TGPSC’s reservation framework fails to acknowledge transgender persons as a distinct gender category or include them under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) group, both of which are crucial for ensuring fair representation in public employment. They argued that this omission violates the Supreme Court’s guidelines on the matter.
As a result, the court has stayed the recruitment process until a final decision is made on the issue, ensuring that the rights of transgender aspirants are considered in the ongoing legal proceedings.
