Akkai Padmashali | Photo credit:
Bengaluru
Trans rights activist Akkai Padmashali was appointed as a member of the Supreme Court-appointed committee formed on Friday to formulate an equal opportunity policy to protect the rights of transgender people.
This makes Ms. Padmashali the first transgender person from Karnataka to be part of the apex court-appointed panel. It is also the first committee appointed by the Supreme Court to have representation from the transgender community.
National level opportunity
“It is a great opportunity to serve the community at the national level,” said Ms. Padmashali in an interview with The Hindu.
“We as a community are facing discrimination from all sections of the society and we are trying to achieve equality and justice. I have so much hope in this committee and believe that I will be able to work towards Ambedkar’s vision of equality and social justice,” she added.
According to Ms. Padmashali, although there have been several court decisions, including the 2014 NALSA v. Union of India judgment that legally recognized transgender people as a “third gender” and upheld their right to self-identify their gender, and the 2018 decision that decriminalized homosexuality, favoring gender and sexual minorities, implementation on the same ground has not been effective.
It requires effective implementation
“My hope is to effectively implement all the rulings. I have very big plans, starting with a series of community meetings, consultations and discussions. This committee is a great opportunity and will set the tone for the movement going forward and the next level of activism.”
While applauding the creation of the committee, Ms. Padmashali feels that the panel should have also had representation from the transmen and intersex communities.
Headed by Justice Asha Menon, a former judge of the Delhi High Court, the other members of the committee are Grace Banu, Dalit rights and trans rights activist; Vyjayanthi Vasanta Mogli, trans rights activist from Telangana; Sourav Mandal, associate professor at Jindal Global University; Nithya Rajshekhar, Senior Fellow, Center for Law and Policy, Bengaluru; and Sanjay Sharma, former executive director of the Transgender Health Association of India.
Published – 17 Oct 2025 20:43 IST
