Prayer:

Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to issue a Writ of Mandamus to direct the respondents to rectify and update all records pertaining to the Petitioner, including name, gender and photograph, to reflect the Petitioner’s gender as Male, and consequently issue a No Objection certificate (NOC) enabling transfer of the Petitioner’s registration to the Karnataka State Nursing council within a time frame fixed by this Hon’ble court and to ensure that no reference is made to the Petitioner’s previous identity or the term ‘transgender’ in official records or communications.

ORDER

1. The prayer in the Writ Petition is for a Mandamus directing the respondents to rectify and update all records pertaining to the petitioner including the name, gender and photograph to reflect the petitioner’s gender as male and consequently, to issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to enable the transfer of the petitioner’s registration to Karnataka State Nursing Council within the time fixed by this Court.

2. The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner was originally a transgender person registered with the Tamil Nadu Transgender Welfare Board bearing TG Card No.7934. A certificate of Identity in Form 3 along with the Transgender Identity Card was also issued on 15.09.2025 under section 6 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 (hereinafter ‘the Act’). Thereafter, it can be seen that the petitioner underwent an affirmation surgery on 12.01.2024. The petitioner also legally changed his name by due advertisement in the Official Gazette on 27.03.2024.

3. Pursuant to the above, all the official identity records of the petitioner including Adhaar, Pan, Voter ID, all reflect the gender of the petitioner as male. Thereafter, the petitioner applied for an identity certificate as per Section 7 of the Act and the same has also been issued by the learned District Magistrate, who is the appropriate authority. By the certificate dated 13.03.2026 in form 4 and thereafter, an identity card is also issued. In view thereof, there is no difficulty whatsoever in the petitioner being identified only as a male and not as a transgender person or a transgender male. In spite thereof, when the petitioner is a qualified nurse registered with the 1st respondent Council and was pursuing his profession, the prevalent environment and the circumstances were hostile and was not accepting the petitioner for his gender and behaviour. Therefore, the petitioner decided to shift to a completely new environment and for that purpose, he has decided to move to Karnataka State and in order to carry on his profession in Karnataka State, his registration with the first respondent had to be transferred to the Karnataka State. When the petitioner has duly applied for the same, even in the communication requiring the petitioner for verification, he is again now described as a transgender man. Therefore, the petitioner has approached this court with the above prayer.

4. I also heard the learned Special Government Pleader appearing on behalf the respondent. She would submit that as per the available description of the petitioner an email is addressed.

5. I have considered the rival submissions made on either side and perused the material records of the case.

6. It is essential to extract Section 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and the same is reproduced as under:-

“7.Change in Gender.

1) After the issue of certificate under sub-section (1) of section 6, if a transgender person undergoes surgery to change gender either as a male or female, such person may make an application, along with a certificate issue to that effect by the Medical Superintendent or Chief Medical Officer of the medical institution in which that person has undergone surgery, to the District Magistrate for revised certificate, in such form and manner as may be prescribed.

2) The District Magistrate shall, on receipt of an applic