The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard submissions by the Central government seeking transfer to itself of petitions pending before various High Courts challenging the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the transfer petitions before a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and requested an early hearing. He suggested that High Courts dealing with similar pleas could be asked to defer proceedings until the transfer plea is decided.

“We have filed transfer petitions to transfer the challenge to the Transgender Amendment Act here in this Court. Can the transfer petition be listed on Friday? If notice also goes, we can ask High Courts to wait,” Mehta submitted.

The Bench, however, observed that parallel proceedings before High Courts may also assist the Supreme Court by providing the benefit of their views on the issue.

“Sometimes, we can have advantage of High Court view also,” CJI Kant remarked.

Mehta responded by cautioning that several High Courts are already hearing challenges to the legislation and differing judgments may emerge.

“There are more than one High Court. There may be divergent views,” he said.

After hearing the submissions, the Court said it would consider the request.

“We will see,” CJI Kant observed.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026 received Presidential assent on March 31 and introduces key changes to the 2019 law governing the rights and recognition of transgender persons.

Among other changes, the legislation revises the definition of a “transgender person” and enhances penal provisions relating to offences such as forced gender identity and bodily harm.

The amendments have faced criticism from LGBTQIA+ groups and other stakeholders, who contend that the certification mechanism violates dignity, autonomy and privacy, and is contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in National Legal Services Authority v Union of India.

Several petitions challenging the law are pending before different High Courts, including the Delhi High Court and the Kerala High Court, apart from matters already filed before the Supreme Court.