The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of Air India on a petition by a transgender who opted for surgery and become a woman but was denied the job of an airhostess in the female category.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud also sought response of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which controls the management and operations of the public air carrier.
The petitioner Shanavi Ponnusamy, a resident of Tamil Nadu told the court that she was denied the job for the reason that she is a transgender. Born a male, the petitioner underwent a sex change operation abroad adopting the sex of a female at the age of 25.
The petitioner joined Air India as a ground staff at the customer support section of the Chennai Airport. She completed a 13-month course to become part of flight cabin crew. Opportunity came her way on July 10, 2017 when Air India published an advertisement seeking female airhostesses, close to 400, for its Northern Region, initially for a period of five years.
The petitioner applied for the post and got a call for attending interview on August 4. Petitioner’s counsel Praveen Swarup said that though the petitioner fared well in the tests, she was not shortlisted for the post. She made four attempts but failed to qualify in the final list.
The petitioner said in her plea that her being a transgender became the reason for Air India not to select her as a female airhostess.
Approaching the court for seeking recognition and equality of status being a transgender, the petitioner said that the Supreme Court has recognized transgenders as the third sex. Based on gender, there can be no discrimination, which is violative of Article 14, 15, 16 and 21, the petition said.