A DOCTRINAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF THE INCLUSION OF TRANSGENDER PERSONS IN THE OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES CATEGORY: A CASE STUDY OF ASSAM
AUTHOR – PARAKRAM SINGH RATHORE, STUDENT AT CHRIST UNIVERSITY
BEST CITATION – PARAKRAM SINGH RATHORE, A DOCTRINAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF THE INCLUSION OF TRANSGENDER PERSONS IN THE OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES CATEGORY: A CASE STUDY OF ASSAM, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (2) OF 2026, PG. 564-577, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
ABSTRACT
The inclusion of transgender persons within the ambit of Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations presents one of the most pressing and unresolved constitutional questions in contemporary Indian law. Following the Supreme Court of India’s landmark decision in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014), which recognised the third gender as a distinct constitutional category entitled to legal protection, States have been left with the challenge of translating judicial mandate into legislative and executive action. Assam’s decision to include transgender persons in its OBC list constitutes a significant, if doctrinally contested, administrative response to this challenge. This paper undertakes a doctrinal analysis of the constitutional validity of that inclusion, examining it through the lens of Articles 14, 15, 16, 21, and 340 of the Constitution of India, the jurisprudence of social and educational backwardness, the transformative vision of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and comparative models of affirmative action. The paper argues that while the inclusion of transgender persons in the OBC category is constitutionally permissible and indeed, compelled by the principle of substantive equality the administrative methodology employed requires rigorous empirical grounding to withstand judicial scrutiny. The paper further situates Assam’s approach within the broader national and international landscape and proposes a normative and institutional framework reconciling reservation jurisprudence with the constitutional recognition of gender identity.[1]
Keywords: Transgender, OBC Reservation, Constitutional Validity, Assam, NALSA, Substantive Equality, Third Gender, Backwardness, Intersectionality, Affirmative Action
[1] National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, (2014) 5 SCC 438 (India).