SC stays HC proceedings against Transgender Act

The Supreme Court has halted further proceedings in four high courts that were hearing challenges to the constitutional validity of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026. This move comes as the Union government seeks to transfer all such cases to the apex court, aiming to prevent divergent judgments on the legislation.

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Further proceedings before high courts shall remain stayed.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant ordered the stay, noting that identical constitutional questions are already before the Supreme Court. The government argued that parallel proceedings in different high courts could lead to conflicting judicial pronouncements. The matter is now scheduled for a hearing in July.

This development is significant amid growing challenges to the amendment. Litigants fear the new law undermines the principle of self-identification of gender, a right affirmed by the Supreme Court in its 2014 National Legal Services Authority Vs Union of India judgment. The government contends that the Supreme Court is already examining an identical challenge, making a consolidated adjudication by the apex court preferable.

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It is better that all matters are taken up either by one high court or we decide it.

At least four high courts are currently hearing challenges to the amendment, with multiple petitions pending in the Karnataka, Delhi, and Kerala high courts, and one filed by the transgender welfare organization Nai Bhor Sanstha before the Rajasthan High Court. One petitioner from the Delhi High Court argued before the Supreme Court that his case presents a comprehensive challenge demonstrating the amendments' constitutional unsustainability.

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This court is already seized of this issue. The petitions before the high courts challenge the constitutional validity of the 2026 Act.