For submitting nomination papers, a third-gender candidate is granted police protection by Delhi High Court

A third-gender candidate who filed his nomination form to run for the Lok Sabha from the South Delhi parliamentary seat has been given police protection by the Delhi High Court.

 

In its ruling on Monday, a one-judge panel led by Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta said that the constitution guarantees equal protection under the law in all areas of state activity, including involvement in the electoral process.

“Any discrimination against someone based on their gender identity or sexual orientation undermines their equality before the law and is against Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. In its ruling, the court said that the State has a responsibility to protect and uphold the constitutionally given rights of transgender people.

The court ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) to provide the required protection and required him to give the petitioner his contact details. It also mandated that the state’s attorney notify the petitioner of the result of a complaint he filed in a span of two weeks.

Petitioner Rajan Singh claimed there had been a “life threatening attack” at his Badarpur office earlier this month, and he was seeking directions for appropriate security and protection of his fundamental rights. Singh intended to file his nomination from the South Delhi Parliamentary Constituency with the backing of the Rashtriya Bahujan Congress Party. The State’s attorney gave the court the assurance that whatever security the petitioner would need to complete the nomination form would be supplied.

The petitioner’s complaint will be investigated further in compliance with the law, the attorney said, and the results will be sent to the petitioner no later than two weeks from now.

Additionally, it was notified that the petitioner’s account of the occurrence could not be verified during the preliminary investigation.

The attorney for the Election Commission said that the petitioner was free to apply in line with the law and that the nomination process officially began on April 29. May 6 is the deadline for submitting nomination forms.