Maharashtra to appoint woman with ‘male’ chromosome to Police department

State government responds to petitioner’s plea in Bombay High Court; she was categorised ‘male’ by Karyotyping test

The Maharashtra Government recently informed the Bombay High Court that it would appoint a woman with the male chromosome to a non-constabulary post under the Nashik Rural Police Recruitment (NRPR) process.

A Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Madhav Jamdar was hearing a plea filed by the petitioner in 2018, when she was 19 years old. She had filed an online application for the NRPR under the Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved category. She appeared for the written examination as well as physical test, and obtained 171 marks out of 200. She was then sent for her medical examination at the State-run JJ Hospital.

There she was informed that the Karyotyping test was not conducted at the JJ Hospital, she was sent to the National Institute of Immunohaematology for it, where it was found that her blood showed “XY” chromosomes. After receiving the report, JJ Hospital issued a letter to the Superintendent of Police (SP), Nashik Rural, Nashik, informing its opinion that the petitioner was a “Male”.

The petitioner, meanwhile, did not receive any reply, despite having qualified in the NRPR. She then applied under the Right to Information Act to know her status on the police recruitment merit list. The Nashik Rural SP informed the petitioner that the merit list for males in the SC category had closed at 182 marks and for females in the SC category at 168 marks. The petitioner had filed her application in the female SC category and obtained 171 marks.

The petitioner then addressed a letter to the Special Inspector General of Police (IGP), Nashik Region, stating that she had obtained 171 marks and that she had filed an application under the SC category; that she was living like a female right from her birth and all her educational certificates and personal documents, that is, ID proof, birth certificate, etc. were registered on her name as a female, and that she was not aware of the Karyotyping test result.

The court noted: “It is an extremely unfortunate case. The petitioner comes from a poor economic strata of the society; her parents are doing sugarcane cutting work and were not aware that her anatomy was different. The ultrasound of the abdomen reveals that her uterus and ovaries were absent and that a prostate-like structure was seen at the base of the bladder. The Karyotyping test opined that the petitioner was a ‘Male’. Be that as it may, the medical condition of the petitioner need not detain us, having regard to the sympathetic stand and the course of action proposed by the State government. The petitioner, though selected in 2018, is waiting to be appointed since then. The wait has already been too long. “

The court accepted the State’s stand to accommodate the petitioner in the Police Department, albeit on a non-constabulary post, which the petitioner accepted.