Madras High Court summons panchayat president who wrote transphobic letter seeking cancellation of land allotted to transgender persons

The Madras High Court Wednesday took strong exception to a letter/ representation made by a panchayat president to the concerned district collector seeking cancellation of the allotment of land to transgender persons by the Tamil Nadu government..In an interim order, Justice SM Subramaniam noted that the letter by the panchayat president reeked of transphobia and, therefore, sought an explanation from him on what authority he had made such a representation.The Court also directed the panchayat president to remain present in court on August 21.Any hatred towards transgender persons is unconstitutional and in breach of Article 19 (1)(d) of the Constitution that guarantees all citizens the freedom to move freely across India, the Court underscored..The Court was hearing a petition filed by one ND Mohan, the panchayat president of Nainarkuppam village in Cuddalore district of TN seeking a direction to the concerned district collector to urgently act on his representation..Mohan told the Court that in April this year, he had written to the district collector to cancel the patta, or the land deed granted by the State government to the transgender persons of that locality.He said that the representation was sent after the Nainarkuppam village passed a resolution to the effect..However, after the Court went through the contents of such representation, it said it realised that the letter reeked of "hatred towards transgender (persons) in that locality."."A perusal of the representation submitted by the petitioner reveals that he is developing hatred towards transgender (persons) in that locality, which is unconstitutional and the representation itself is directly in violation of Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution of India. The Nainarkuppam Panchayat has passed a resolution on 07.04.2023, which is also unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental rights ensured to the citizen of our great nation," the Court said..The Court further said that the resolution itself was unconstitutional and in breach of fundamental rights of the citizens of this country. It also said that the representation sent to the district collector was a cause of much concern..It, therefore, directed Mohan to be present in Court on August 21 to explain "under what circumstances the resolution was passed by panchayat and also produce the copy of the resolution.The Court also directed Mohan to file an affidavit "to explain under what authority of law," he sent the representation to the district collector?.Advocate R Rajavelavan appeared for Mohan, the panchayat president and the petitioner in the case. Special Government Pleader D Ravichander and Government Advocate E Sundaram appeared for the respondent district authorities. .[Read Order]