The Supreme Court has quashed the Manipur police summons issued to a transgender woman activist, Thangjam Santa @ Santa Khurai, over her social media posts alleging misappropriation of transgender persons welfare fund by the Social Welfare Department, government of Manipur.
A double bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhutmyan passed the order, taking into account the fact that the petitioner (activist) had joined the investigation and even expressed regret regarding her statement.
The Apex Court recorded an undertaking that she would not make such remarks in future on any public platform or social media. In future, if she has a grievance, she will raise it before an appropriate forum, the court said.
The counsel of the petitioner submitted before the Court that transgender woman activist had no intention to harm the reputation of any government department or other authority, and regretted the remarks she made on social media. The petitioner had only wanted to be heard before the Trans Welfare Board, as a representative of transgender women, the counsel said.
Keeping in view, the SC impressed upon Manipur’s counsel to be ‘magnanimous’ and ignore the one-off bona-fide incident.
The SC quashed the notice issued to Santa under section 160 CrPC, and all subsequent proceedings, subject to her complying with the undertaking.
It should be mentioned that Santa Khurai made some remarks on Facebook on September 1, 2023 alleging mismanagement of transgender welfare fund and programmes in the state.
In response to the post, a team of Police officers visited her house seeking her whereabouts and served a police notice for attendance under section 160 CrPC.
She submitted that transgender women were entitled to the same protections under Section 160 of the CrPC, in light of the judgments of the Supreme Court in NALSA vs Union of India.
As per the plea, the NALSA judgment recognised the transgender rights, gender identity and the importance of protecting transgender individuals from discrimination.
The interim order was passed on a writ petition filed by Khurai, seeking protection from the actions of Manipur police and quashing of police summons issued to her.
