Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant interim stay on the order of the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) directing the state government to grant grace marks to the two transgender persons to make them qualify for recruitment by reaching the cutoff marks.
A bench headed by Justice AS Chandurkar also issued notices to transgender persons Vinayak Kashid and Aryan Pujari while hearing the plea filed by the state government challenging the MAT order of November 29, 2023.
MAT, on pleas by Kashid and Pujari, had noted that it cannot pass any directions making reservations for transgender persons in public employment and education, it said that the government ought to take more steps towards inclusion of the transgender community in mainstream society. It had hence asked the government to give them grace marks and consider for the posts of constable.
The issue arose after the state issued advertisement in November 2022 for filling of 14956 posts for police constable. The two transgender persons approached MAT seeking direction to the government to create the option for the third gender in the online application forms. They also sought that the state be directed to provide reservation to them in government employment.
Challenging this before the HC, the state contended that the tribunal has granted such a relief without considering the effect on the overall merit list for recruitment for Police Constables. Granting additional marks to the two transpersons, thereby making them qualify for the recruitment, would affect the prospects of the other meritorious candidates, who were not represented before the MAT.
The direction practically amounts to alteration of advertisement as well as Rules of recruitment, state’s plea added. The tribunal's order is not only contrary to the basic principles of service jurisprudence, but is also iniquitous to the other transgender persons as they also would have applied if they had known that such a relaxations would be given. “They are deprived of this opportunity,” the plea added.
Moreover, the tribunal’s direction in granting age relaxation to Kashid results in “special favour to a special individual to get them a government job in spite of failing the qualifying m exam, which is totally unjust”, the state contended.
Kashid and Pujari’s advocate Kranti LC had submitted despite the Supreme Court judgment asking all the states to provide reservations to transpersons, the Maharashtra government had not taken steps. He added the states like Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Bihar, have given benefit of reservations to transgenders.
