The Bombay High Court has ruled that Section 75 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) can be applied even when the complainant is a transgender person who identifies as a woman. The court rejected an argument that the section was not applicable in such cases.
Justice Mehroz Pathan stated that the complainant identifies as a woman and has undergone hormone therapy. The First Information Report (FIR) includes allegations of outraging the modesty of the complainant. The court found that the allegations of assault and outraging modesty could be sustained under these circumstances.
The court also addressed the applicability of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. It was argued that a section of this act could not be invoked due to the absence of a certificate of identity at the time of the alleged offense. However, the judge noted that a person can identify as transgender without a certificate and that the absence of a certificate at the time of the offense does not prevent the act from being used.
The court ultimately refused to discharge the accused, Vishal Ingle, who had served as an Agniveer. Offences were registered under Section 75 and Section 296 of the BNS, as well as the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
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Source: thehindu.com
