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ince April 2018 when the A transwoman
government had amended
Income Tax rules to allow
transgenders to be recog-
S nised as an independent
category of applicants for obtaining a is also a bride
Permanent Account Number (PAN) for
their tax-related transactions, things
have been moving in positive direc-
tion for this important segment of the The term ‘bride’, according to a Madras High Court ruling,
society. does not necessarily refer only to a woman under the
On April 23 this year, the Madras
High Court bench had held that as per Hindu Marriage Act, writes tehelka bureau
the Hindu Marriage Act, a transsexual
is also a “bride” and the term would transgender people, who, he said, suf- the contention of the government ad-
not necessarily refer only to a woman. fered from stigma and are forced to vocate that the registrar of marriage
Justice G R Swaminathan gave the leave their homes, the judge directed had powers to refuse the registration
ruling on a petition filed by a man and the Tamil Nadu government to issue an as the couple did not meet the statutory
a transwoman who approached the order banning sex reassignment sur- requirement under the Hindu Marriage
court after officials refused to register geries on inter-sex infants and children. Act, as the term “bride” could only refer
their marriage held in Tuticorin last Quoting from epics Mahabharatha to a “woman on the marriage day”.
October. and Ramayana, as well as from Su- The judge said the apex court had
Allowing the petition, he directed preme Court rulings, the judge said the held that transgender persons had the
the Registration Department officials word ‘bride’ could not have a static or right to decide their self-identified gen-
to register the marriage of the petition- immutable meaning and would have der. Justice Swaminathan said it was
ers. Voicing concern over the plight of to include a transwoman. He rejected the responsibility of the government to