A three-member Supreme Court bench on Wednesday directed the chief secretaries of all the provinces and Islamabad chief commissioner to submit a detailed report till November 14 over the right of inheritance of eunuchs. The bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez observed that eunuchs were a part of the society, who could not be deprived of their right of inheritance. During the hearing, a senior official of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) told the court that two posts had been allocated for eunuchs in the organisation.
A senior official of Punjab Social Welfare Department said the district coordination officers (DCOs) of the province were taking concrete steps for transfer of inherited land to the eunuchs. He said a eunuch of Sialkot had been given 26 kanals of land of his father. The president of the She-male Association of Pakistan, Almas Boby, told the court that the government was earning tax through eunuchs in Karachi, but they (eunuchs) were given less wages.
A representative of the Sindh government said eunuchs had been involved in anti-polio and anti hepatic campaign. The chief justice observed that eunuchs could not be deprived of the rights, including that of inheritance, being enjoyed by other citizens. He asked all the provinces to play their role to ensure right of inheritance to eunuchs. The court adjourned further hearing till November 14. Talking to newsmen after the hearing, Almas Boby praised the apex court for granting their due rights to the community. On last hearing, the court had directed NADRA not to indulge in ‘gender’ verification of eunuchs by a medical board and amend its laws to declare transgender as she-male. It also asked the provincial governments to protect fundamental rights of eunuchs and also take steps for giving them inheritance rights.
The court had ordered NADRA to expedite efforts for issuance of National Identity Cards (NICs) to eunuchs, besides registering them as she-male. The court had observed that eunuchs were Pakistani citizens, but they were deprived of various rights, including the NICs. The court was informed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh governments had appointed focal person of eunuchs to represent them and coordinate on various issues with the administrative departments properly. To which the court directed the Punjab and Balochistan governments to replicate the exercise.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had stated in its report that the Higher Education Department of the province would continue to impart higher education to all citizens including eunuchs without any discrimination under the provisions of sub clauses (1) and (2) of Article 25 of the Constitution. The court had warned that a stern action would be taken against those police officials, who tried to harass eunuchs. NADRA in December 2010 had agreed to add a third option under the gender category in the NIC forms. It had said that the applications forms for NICs would contain the third option of ‘khawajasara’ (transgender) along with ‘male’ and ‘female’.
