Delhi: Man claims ‘wife is transgender’, moves court seeking medical examination

A man has moved the Delhi high court seeking directions to the Delhi police to get his wife’s gender tested at a Central government hospital.
The man has claimed that his wife is a “transgender individual”. He claimed that his wife concealed the fact that she was transgender before their marriage.
He has contended that this concealment has caused him mental trauma, prevented the consummation of their marriage, and led to various false legal proceedings against him.
The plea, submitted by Advocate Abhishek Kumar Choudhary, says that an individual’s sex or gender identity is a private matter. However, in the context of marriage, the rights of both parties are interconnected. To ensure a healthy and peaceful marital life, it is crucial to balance and respect the fundamental rights to life of both individuals as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, reported PTI.
The plea further stated that the petitioner has a fundamental right to a fair investigation and determination of facts before being subjected to legal proceedings designed for women, the agency added.
It asserted that the petitioner should not be required to pay maintenance or face allegations under domestic violence and dowry laws if the wife does not qualify as a “woman” within the meaning and scope of these legislations.
Earlier, the petitioner approached the trial court under Section 151 of the CPC to request the formation of a medical board for his wife’s examination. However, the trial court subsequently dismissed his application for the medical examination.
In a separate incident, the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently observed while hearing a divorce case that calling the husband a ‘hijra’ is an act of cruelty.
“…terming the respondent-husband as Hijra (transgender) and calling his mother to have given birth to a transgender, is an act of cruelty,” the bench said recently.
With inputs from PTI