The Madras High Court on Thursday recommended that Tamil Nadu offer transgender candidates the same relaxation in age limit that is given to destitute widows and ex-servicemen, PTI reported. The court was hearing a petition filed by the chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services and Recruitment Board against a single-judge order asking him to reserve a post for a transgender candidate.

The plea sought a reversal of the order that directed the recruitment board to reserve the post of a secondary grade police constable for transgender candidate Aradhana. She had sought the court’s intervention while arguing that she had not been granted a relaxation in age.

“We see absolutely no reason why reservations in age permissible to destitute widows and ex-servicemen and the like should not be extended also to transgenders,” the bench said. “This observation will be applicable in equal measure to each and every concession, relaxation of conditions made in any form of public employment.”

A division bench of justices CT Selvam and N Sathishkumar referred to a Supreme Court judgment in the National Legal Services Authority Vs Union of India case, which highlighted the “need to undo the wrong silently suffered by the third gender of the human race”.