JUDGMENT :

1. Not on the Board. Mentioned. Taken on the Production Board.

2. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally by the consent of the parties.

3. The petitioner, undisputedly a transgender, is aggrieved by the rejection of her nomination form by the Returning Officer vide the impugned order dated 31.12.2020. The petitioner has decided to choose the female gender and hence, had tendered her nomination form for contesting the election from the ward reserved for women-general category. The reason for rejecting the nomination form is that the petitioner is a transgender. It is stated that there is no reservation for the transgender category in the present Village Panchayat elections.

4. The petitioner relies upon Section 4(2) of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and also places reliance upon the judgment delivered by the Honourable Supreme Court in the matter of National Legal Services Authority vs. Union of India and others, AIR 2014 SC 1863 : (2014) 5 SCC 438.

5. The learned AGP and the learned advocate representing the State Election Commission submit that they would not argue beyond the provisions of law and would not make submissions, which ar