Patan High Court Orders Government to Create Legal Provisions for Transgender Identity Changes on Citizenship and Educational Certificates

The Patan High Court has issued a directive order in the name of the government to create legal arrangements allowing transgender individuals to amend their names and gender details on citizenship certificates and educational credentials based on self-perceived gender identity.

A division bench of High Court judges Rishi Ram Niroula and Gopal Prasad Bastola issued this order while hearing a writ petition filed by 32-year-old Elin Bhandari. The full text of the order has recently been made public.

Bhandari, a resident of Kathmandu, filed the writ petition seeking to change the name on his citizenship certificate to 'Elin Bhandari' and the gender description to 'Male', stating that although identified as female at birth, he has always perceived himself as a man (transgender male). He argued that having a different identity caused problems in higher education and other administrative processes.

The court considered the petitioner's request as a 'thoughtful and sensitive' matter. However, it noted that the current Citizenship Act, 2063, and related regulations do not have clear legal provisions for changing names and gender details on citizenship certificates once issued, based on self-perceived identity.

Although the court could not issue an immediate mandamus to correct the details due to the lack of law, it determined that the constitutional rights of the citizen should not be curtailed. The ruling referenced Article 12 of the Constitution, which ensures the right to citizenship with gender identity, and noted that the Supreme Court had previously ordered the disclosure of identity based on self-perception.

The court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law to make necessary legal arrangements to address this situation. The order instructed them to formulate or amend laws to enable individuals with different gender identities to correct their citizenship and other certificates according to their identity.

With this order, the government must now initiate the process of creating laws or procedures that allow for the amendment of details on citizenship and educational certificates for transgender individuals.

Advocate Laxman Prasad Rijal argued on behalf of the writ petitioner, while Additional Deputy Attorney General Ganesh Poudel and Advocate Somnath Sapkota argued on behalf of the respondents.