ORDER :

(Ujjal Bhuyan, J.)

Issue raised in all the three public interest litigations (PIL) being inter-related, those were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment and order.

2. We have heard Ms. Jayna Kothari, learned Senior Counsel appearing for Mr. K. Sai Sandeep Pareekshit, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Andapalli Sanjeev Kumar, learned Special Government Pleader for the respondents.

3. In W.P. (PIL) No.44 of 2018 prayer made is to declare Telangana Eunuchs Act , 1329 Fasli as ultra vires and unconstitutional.

4. Petitioners are transgender persons residing in the State of Telangana.

5. Telangana Eunuchs Act , 1329 Fasli previously referred to as Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Eunuchs Act, 1329 Fasli was first enacted in the year 1919 and is applicable to eunuchs as defined under the said Act. Telangana Eunuchs Act , 1329 Fasli (briefly, ‘the Act’ hereinafter) mandates maintenance of a register of eunuchs residing in the city of Hyderabad who are suspected of kidnapping or emasculating boys or of committing unnatural offences or abetting the same. The Act permits arrest of transgender persons without a warrant and punished with imprisonment, if found in female clothing or ornamented or singing, dancing or participating in public entertainment in a street or a public place or where a transgender person is found in the company of a boy below the age of sixteen years.

6. It is contended that the aforesaid Act is an outdated legislation and is a complete anachronism with modern day life and thinking. It is a discriminatory law that criminalises the transgender community unfairly without any legal basis. Vires of the Act has been questioned on the ground that it targets the transgender community and treats them as a distinct class with no reasonable basis for such classification, besides permitting discrimination against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender, thus violating Articles 14 and 15(1) of the Constitution.

6.1. It is further contended that the Act imposes arbitrary restriction on the freedom of speech and expression of the transgender community and also breaches their fundamental right to privacy. Thus, the said legislation is violative of Articles 19(1) and 21 of the Constitution. It is also contended that the said legislation is against the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court decision in National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India : (2014) 5 SCC 438, which has declared eunuchs etc., as third gender and also directing the Central and State Governments to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens. Petitioners have also relied upon the decision of the Supreme Court in K.S.Puttaswamy v. Union of India : (2017) 10 SCC 1 : 2017 SCC OnLine SC 996, to contend that right to privacy is one of the facets of the right to life and dignity and thus is a cherished right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Impugned legislation violates the right to identity, personal autonomy and the right to be left alone, all facets of the right to privacy of the transgender people.

7. Petitioners had filed I.A.No.1 of 2018 in W.P. (PIL) No.44 of 2018 seeking a stay on the operation of the Telangana Eunuchs Act , 1329 Fasli.

8. This Court vide the order dated 18.09.2018 had admitted the public interest litigation and passed an interim direction that no arrest or prosecution shall be made invoking the provisions of Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Eu