Supreme Court says transgender cards will not automatically lose validity
India’s Supreme Court has orally told the Union government that a 2026 amendment to transgender law will not retrospectively invalidate identity cards issued under the previous legislation. Petitioners challenge the new law, arguing that it removes the right to self-determined gender identity recognised by an earlier ruling.
India’s Supreme Court has orally clarified that a new transgender law will not automatically invalidate identity cards issued under earlier legislation. The three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, was hearing petitions challenging the 2026 Amendment Act, which came into force on March 30. Petitioners argue that the law gives the state excessive authority to determine gender identity.
They say the amendment removes the right to self-perceived gender identity recognised in the Supreme Court’s 2014 NALSA judgment. That ruling helped lead to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Justice Joymalya Bagchi told the Union government that rights already conferred should remain protected even if legislation changes.
He also observed that the absence of a clarifying amendment suggested that Parliament had not intended to abolish existing transgender cards. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asked for more time to examine the law. He raised concerns about possible uncertainty in matters such as succession and inheritance and questioned why petitioners needed a specific interim order on the cards.
The petitioners include activists and community members, among them Laxminarayan Tripathi. They argue that the state should not replace a person’s autonomous identity with its own biological or sociomedical classification.
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