The Union government on Monday told the Supreme Court that transgender identity card holders under a previous regime enacted by the 2019 law will continue to be treated as valid and retain the benefits attached to their cards until the top court decides the constitutional validity of the new law.
The court, however, declined to extend the interim protection to those who are still in the process of obtaining transgender cards or whose cards have been cancelled, saying it could not pass a blanket order while examining the validity of the amended law. The court also made it clear that it was conscious of the need to avoid passing an interim order that could prejudge the constitutional challenge to the new legislation. The proceedings are part of the Supreme Court’s examination of a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026. The new law has been challenged on the ground that it dilutes the principle of self-identification of gender recognised by the Supreme Court in its landmark 2014 NALSA judgment.
