The Manipur High Court directed the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur, Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur (COHSEM), Manipur University (MU) and the Manipur Medical Council to issue fresh certificates for Dr Beoncy Laishram within one month.
The Manipur High Court has directed the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur, Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur (COHSEM), Manipur University (MU) and the Manipur Medical Council to issue fresh educational certificates reflecting the new name and gender of Dr Beoncy Laishram, the first transgender doctor of Northeast India.
The order was passed by the single bench of Justice A Guneshor Sharma while hearing a petition filed by Dr Beoncy Laishram, whose birth name and gender were earlier recorded as “Boboi Laishram, male” in her educational records. After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2019, the District Magistrate, Imphal West, issued her a transgender certificate and an identity card in the name of “Dr Beoncy Laishram” with gender “female”, in line with Sections 6 and 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Her updated credentials have already been reflected in Aadhaar, PAN and Voter ID.
Despite this, BOSEM, COHSEM and MU declined to change her name and gender in educational certificates, citing absence of rules in their by-laws and arguing that such changes must begin from the matriculation stage. However, the High Court ruled that any educational institution or establishment is independently obligated under Sections 6, 7 and 10 of the Act to correct the records of a transgender person upon application, without waiting for initial institutions to do so.
