SC seeks Aviation Ministry’s response on transgender’s job plea

New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Civil Aviation Ministry on a petition by a transgender person challenging a medical board's rejection of her job application as cabin crew in Air India.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud gave the Ministry four weeks time to respond.

Advocate K.P. Singh, who appeared for the petitioner, said that at the time of applying for the job, Shanavi Punusammy had disclosed her status as a transgender and she has succeeded in written examination.

Punusammy, who underwent gender surgery and became a woman after sex reassignment surgery, said that she has appeared four times and despite doing well in the examination, has not been selected for the job because she was transgender and the vacancies for cabin crew are only for women.

A B.Tech graduate with good academic record, Punusammy says denial of job to work as cabin crew because she being a transgender was discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

The petitioner says that she worked in the with Sutherland Global Services (airline sector) for over a year to gain experience to fulfil her dream of working as a cabin crew of the some airlines in India.

To realise her dream of working as a cabin crew staffer, the petitioner says that she had joined the Air India customer support (domestic and International) in Chennai to get familiar with the fundamental of Air India air carrier operations.

Punusammy says that she had tried to approach Air India's Chairman and Managing Director for the redressal of her grievance but she has not succeeded in meeting him so far.