Transgenders employment in private companies in India

Discrimination is not unknown in India when it comes to inclusion of transgender people in society, especially in terms of employment opportunities. Consistent efforts by activists over the past several years, has resulted in the passing of the landmark order by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in 2014 in case of National Legal Services Authority vs. Union of India. The Court emphasised that discrimination and ill-treatment of the transgender community is common in India, particularly in sectors such as education and employment. Consequently, the Court recognised the rights of the third gender to life with dignity, which is enshrined under Article 21[1] of the Constitution. In an attempt to provide legislative backing to the recommendations enunciated by the National Legal Services Authority of India , the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 (the Bill) has been drafted, and currently awaits Parliamentary approval to become law.

This article seeks to highlight the key provisions of the Bill and its legal impact with respect to a transgender person’s right to life with dignity including employment opportunities.
Continue Reading Will Indian Workplace Ever Be ‘Inclusive’ Towards ‘Transgenders’?

data privacy protection bill India

We are moving towards a data centric world, and “data is the new oil”[1]. And few would disagree that a key debate today in finance is ‘trust and privacy vs. using data for business growth’. As modern day businesses look to adapt themselves to generate revenue from customer related data, regulators across the world are grappling with the formulation of effective laws to regulate the data-driven economy. Given the relative novelty of the concept, regulators are reflecting on fundamental questions such as the right to privacy, property rights over data and the right to use the collected data.

In India, the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) has been fairly forward looking, by passing various regulations and constituting a host of committees to address issues ranging from cyber security to customers data protection norms.[2] In almost all its regulations, RBI has adopted a data privacy framework similar to the one advocated by the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee in its Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 (“DP Bill”) – an amalgamated framework consisting of consent-and-notice and the vesting of certain rights with the originators of such information.[3] Undoubtedly, the DP Bill will have an impact on the manner in which data is collected, processed and shared by the financial industry. With this as the background, the authors seek to analyse the impact of the DP Bill on businesses engaged in the financial sector.
Continue Reading In the throes of Data Protection (and the associated woes) lies the business of trust

Sec 377 LGBT Employment in India

The Supreme Court of India has held Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) to be unconstitutional, in so far as it penalises any consensual sexual relationship between two adults, be it homosexuals, heterosexuals or lesbians (Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India and Ors. (2018) (Johar Judgment). By way of this landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has overruled its earlier decision in Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation (2013), whereby, the validity of Section 377 of the IPC had been upheld.
Continue Reading What Does the Section 377 Judgment Mean for a Modern Day Employer?