The Karnataka High Court directed the NLSIU to reserve 0.5% seats for transgender candidates in law courses until the university prepares reservation for them.

The Karnataka High Court has directed the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) to provide 0.5% reservation for transgender persons until the university prepares a reservation for transgenders.

Also, the court directed the NLSIU to arrange for fee waiver for those admitted under the transgender reservation quota and to seek suitable grants from the state or central governments for the purpose.

SC instruction

Meanwhile, the court directed the university to implement the directive issued by the Supreme Court in 2014 in the case of Union of India v. National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and to make provision for providing financial assistance to transgender students in education. Admission process for next academic year.

Justice Ravi V. Hosmani gave this instruction while presenting a public interest petition filed by 33-year-old Mugil Anbu Basant.

Keeping in view the fact that the state government has reserved 1% posts in public recruitment for transgenders, the court fixed 0.5% as interim reservation in admissions to NLSIU.

In August 2023, the court directed the university to provisionally admit the petitioner to the three-year LLB course for the academic year 2023-24, but the petitioner could not attend the classes as he could not pay the full fee of around ₹3.75. He paid only ₹ 50,000 as Rs 1 lakh for the first year and asked for financial assistance / fee waiver. University.

Couldn’t get a loan

Although NLSIU agreed to pay the student loan interest as per its policy and provided legal assistance to the petitioner, the petitioner could not take a student loan to pay the remaining fees. NLSIU also told the court that he was not eligible to participate in the examination as he did not attend the classes due to non-payment of fees.

Keeping this aspect in mind, the court directed the NLSIU to admit the petitioner under interim reservation for transgender as per its instructions, if there is no other transgender candidate seeking admission or already admitted in LLB course for the current academic year.

Meanwhile, the court also directed the state government to take note of the demand for reservation for transgenders in education and formulate a reservation and fee reimbursement policy as contained in the directive issued in the NALSA case.