The Supreme Court on January 2 issued notice on a petition filed by a transwoman whose appointment as a teacher was terminated by two private schools in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, respectively, based on her gender identity in a span of a year.
The matter came up before a Bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, which heard the petitioner and issued notices to the Centre and respective State governments along with the two private schools in question.
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‘Humiliating, degrading’
In her writ petition filed before the court, Jane Kaushik pleaded that she was seeking remedy against the “endless, humiliating, and degrading discrimination” she is facing in employment and her unlawful termination from two different schools in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Ms. Kaushik submitted that the discrimination she has been facing in employment also included the lack of effective mechanisms to address such discrimination — specifically when this is provided for under the Transgender Persons (Protections of Rights) Act, 2019.
The petition said, “Importantly, such discrimination does not result in just unfair treatment — but also results in gross violations of her right to life and livelihood as her transgender identity has become the sole reason for her being deprived and denied employment, and even when she does get employment, face harassment, discrimination, and eventual termination.”
The petitioner’s counsel submitted before the Bench that she does not have the means to pursue separate cases in different High Courts simultaneously and hence was approaching the top court for relief. The Supreme Court has asked the governments concerned and the private schools for a response and is expected to take it up for hearing again in four weeks.
In the petition, Ms. Kaushik has said that the schools in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat had terminated her appointment as a teacher within days of arriving for her joining formalities on the sole basis of her gender identity.
In Uttar Pradesh
In the case of U.P.’s Uma Devi Children’s Academy, the school authorities had first stipulated that Ms. Kaushik would be allowed to work at the school only if she “hid her gender identity”. Despite best efforts, when students, for lack of sensitisation, discovered her gender identity and harassed her, the school authorities allegedly forced her to resign in December 2022, as reported by The Hindu at the time.
Even though the National Commission for Women (NCW) had taken cognisance of the incident in U.P., its inquiry had given the school a clean chit without addressing the grievance of Ms. Kaushik, the petition said, adding that the National Council for Transgender Persons had also not acted despite receiving complaints.
The school authorities eventually also tried to sue Ms. Kaushik for ₹1 crore in defamation damages because her termination had been reported in the media, following which she filed a police complaint at the local police station as well.
In Gujarat
In the meantime, Ms. Kaushik, holding degrees in BA (General), Masters of Arts (MA) (Political Science), Bachelor of Education (BEd) and a two-year diploma in Nursery Teacher Training, was offered another position to teach at JP Modi School in Jamnagar city of Gujarat.
But upon reaching the school in July 2023 to join after pooling in money through crowdfunding, the authorities first made her stay at an expensive hotel with her own funds. The following day, she was told by the school management that they cannot let her start teaching because of her gender identity and asked her to go back to Delhi.
The petitioner submitted that a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had also not elicited any action against the respondents beyond issuing a summons to the officials concerned in U.P.
In the petition, Ms. Kaushik has prayed for directions to the government authorities concerned to ensure non-discrimination against transgender persons during the process of employment, period of employment and for terminating employment. Further, Ms. Kaushik has asked for directions to quash the relieving letter issued by the Uma Devi Children’s Academy and sought that she be reinstated at either of the schools she was fired from.
In addition, the petitioner has also sought directions for the respondents to pay compensation to her for gross violation of her fundamental rights protected under Articles 21, 14, 15 and 19 of the Constitution.
