A Division Bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy in the case of Grace Banu v. State of Tamil Nadu has instructed the Petitioner to provide a copy of the petition to the Advocate General for further hearing and sought the Government's response pertaining to the provision of monetary relief to members of Transgender Community who are not having Ration Cards.
Factual Background
The Petitioner belongs to the transgender community. He represented the whole Transgender community and brought to the notice of the Court that most of the members of this community in the State of Tamil Nadu were without a Ration card, and as a result of which they were facing difficulty in getting ration from Government shops. Therefore, the petitioner filed PIL under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the Respondents.
Court Reasoning & Judgment
The Court perused all the facts and the demands raised by the petitioner as:
1- Rs. 4000/- should be given to the Transgender by the State who doesn’t have a Ration card
2- the first installment of Rs.2000/- of cash relief to be paid in the month of May 2021.
3- State should conduct awareness programs to encourage Transgender Persons in the State of Tamil Nadu regarding Covid-19 Vaccination
4- To conduct special vaccination drivers for transgender persons in Tamil Nadu by assisting them to register online and get special vaccination slots in local community health centres. The Court accepted the plea and asked the petitioner to submit the copy of the petition to the Advocate General and asked the response of the State Government for seeking the extension of COVID-19 cash relief Rs.4000/- to transgender persons in Tamil Nadu who do not possess Ration Cards.
The Bench had listed the matter on 27.05.2021 for the next hearing.
Case Details
Case:- W.P.No.12035 of 2021
Petitioner:- Grace Banu
Respondent:- State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.
Judge: Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy
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