LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chie
f Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah M
onday sought details from the government on a petition seeking protection of fu
ndamental rights of transsexuals including enrollment in upcoming census and national identity cards with mentioning of the gend
er.
The court ordered for submission of reply till January 9, 2017.
During hearing on Monday, counsel for the government Hina Hafeezullah told the court that steps were being taken to include transgender people in upcoming population census. She said that transgender people were free to use option of male or female in their national identity cards.
She said that the government recognised the rights of transgender citizens and had been taking steps to inclu
de them in census. She sought time from the court to get instructions from the Pakistan Statistics Bureau.
Waqar Ali, a transgender, had filed the petition. He had requested the court to direct the federal government to legislate on welfare of transgender community keeping in consideration its international obligations under international conventions on civil and political rights ratified in 2010.
