NDA-ruled Andhra Pradesh refuses to defend trans rights bill changes in SC; Uttarakhand says the law is beneficial

The Supreme Court is currently hearing at least a dozen petitions challenging the law. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

In an affidavit before the Supreme Court, the NDA-led Andhra Pradesh government has refused to defend the controversial amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2026.

The court is currently hearing at least a dozen petitions challenging the law. The state told the court in an affidavit filed in August that it had no role in the enactment of the law and that the constitutionality of the law was “primarily a matter for the Union of India”.

Earlier this year, the Union government introduced changes to the law that removed provisions that guaranteed transgender people the right to their “self-perceived gender identity” and limited the definition of “transgender person” to physiological characteristics. The amendments sparked widespread protests across the country and led members of the government’s National Council for Transgender Persons to resign over the changes, even as parliament passed the bill and the government announced it.

‘No discrimination’

With the Union government yet to respond to challenges to the law in the Supreme Court, the Andhra Pradesh government, led by the Telugu Desam Party, an ally of the BJP, told the apex court that it “has not taken any independent action to discriminate against transgender persons”.

Interestingly, while the bill was being debated in the Lok Sabha on March 24, Telugu Desam Party MP Byreddy Shabari was among the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs who supported it, raising alleged complaints that people were falsely adopting a transgender identity for begging at traffic signals.

In its affidavit, the Andhra Pradesh government also provided data on the number of certified transgender people across the state, showing that out of a total of 3,750 applications for transgender identity cards, 3,233 were issued, 403 were “filtered” and 114 applications were processed. The state further stated that it “remains committed to protecting the constitutional rights, dignity, equality and welfare of transgender persons and is committed to faithfully complying with any directions or orders” the court may issue.

Uttarakhand for

On the other hand, the BJP-led Uttarakhand government has defended the changes to the 2026 Act, saying that matters related to the rights and health needs of transgender people are “influenced by social norms and existing systems” in addition to government regulations.

However, the Uttarakhand government’s submission to the Supreme Court in August noted that the Center should entertain challenges to the constitutionality of the law, but the state proceeded to defend the law regardless, citing precedent that it was a settled right to presume the constitutionality of “legislation enacted by a competent legislature”.

The Uttarakhand government further said that the operation of the amended law in the state has not resulted in “any denial, dilution, violation or limitation of the rights of transgender persons”, adding that the process of “identification, certification, welfare and rehabilitation” of transgender persons is ongoing.

The Self-Determination Clause

While introducing the bill in Parliament, the Union government and BJP-led NDA MPs insisted that maintaining the principle of self-determination of gender identity would lead to people “falsely” claiming to be transgender to claim welfare benefits. This came even after opposition MPs objected to the amendments, arguing that the right to self-determination of gender identity was recognized by the Supreme Court in its landmark 2014 NALSA judgment and that removing the right was an “attack on constitutional morality” and the dignity of transgender people.

In its submission to the Supreme Court, the Uttarakhand government argued that the amendments do not violate any rights of transgender persons, are “ameliorative and beneficial in nature” and “work for the benefit, protection and welfare” of transgender persons.

Published – 26 Sep 2026 22:28 IST