No constitutional or statutory provision laying down reservation for transgender persons: MahaTransco to Bombay High Court

There is no constitutional, statutory provision or government decision mandating reservation in jobs for the transgender community, the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. (MahaTransco) told the Bombay High Court. .In the absence of the same, the transmission company does not have the power to provide reservation for transgender persons, it was submitted.The submissions form part of an affidavit filed through the company's chief general manager Sudhir Wankhede in response to a plea by an individual seeking a directive to transmission company to modify its advertisement issued in May this year for mass recruitment.“The reservation which the petitioner is seeking is not provided by constitution, the statute or any government decision and such it is beyond the power and capacity of MSETCL to provide reservation for the category of transgender persons in the recruitment process,” the State-owned company underscored..The petitioner, Vinayak Kashid, who is a graduate in Electrical Engineering and post graduate in Technology (Electrical Power System Engineering) course was aggrieved by the exclusion of transgender community in the application form.“The demand of the petitioner seeking reservation as a transgender person is contrary to the statute since no reservation is yet provided by the Central or State government or under the Act of the Parliament or State legislature. The MSETCL has provided all types of reservations as contemplated by various statutes. The demand of the petitioner of seeking reservation in the recruitment as transgender person cannot be accepted,” MahaTransco's affidavit said..It further stated that the advertisement or the recruitment process nowhere prohibited any transgender person from participating in the recruitment process.In view of this, there was no violation of rights of any transgender person or discrimination against any transgender, it was contended..In the petition, Kashid had claimed that she came across an advertisement issued by the MahaTransco on May 4, 2022 to recruit Assistant Engineers (Transmission) for 170 vacant posts.While filling the form, Kashid noted that the advertisement was in breach of the Supreme Court judgment in National Legal Services Authority vs Union of India, wherein Supreme Court had recognised several rights for the transgender community.The top court had also ordered the States to reserve some seats in government jobs for transgender persons..The MahaTransco filed its reply after Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik called for a response in June 2022. The State government is yet to file an affidavit.