The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to implement a 1 percent reservation for transgender individuals in state public employment positions, citing the case of Mrinal Barik v. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Justice Rajasekhar Mantha issued the order in light of the Supreme Court’s 2014 judgment in NALSA v Union of India. In the NALSA case, the Supreme Court had mandated various welfare measures for transgender individuals, including reservations in educational and employment opportunities.
The High Court noted that despite a State policy in West Bengal from 2022 advocating equal treatment for transgender individuals in employment, the government had not implemented any reservation for them. Consequently, the High Court directed the Chief Secretary of the Government of West Bengal to ensure a 1% reservation for transgender individuals in all public employment in the state.
The order was issued in response to a petition filed by a transwoman seeking appointment as a teacher. Despite passing the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014 and 2022, she was not invited for the counselling process or interview. The Court instructed the concerned state authority to arrange for her interview and counselling as a special case and to recruit her as an assistant teacher in the primary section against future vacancies.
Advocates Sabyasachi Chatterjee, Imtiaz Akhtar, Badrul Karim, Indrani Roy, and Sarajit Roy represented the petitioner, while Advocates Supriyo Chattopadhyay and Iti Dutta appeared for the State. Advocates Saikat Banerjee, Ratul Biswas, and Kaushik Chowdhury represented the West Bengal Board of Primary Education.
