Kochi, Nov 14 The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to correct the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) certificate issued to transgender scholar Rithisha Rithu, so that it reflects her legally-recognised, self-identified name. The interim order will remain in force until the NTA completes the correction process within two weeks.
Justice V.G. Arun issued the directive on a petition filed by Rithu, who is the first transgender woman in Kerala to gain admission to a Ph.D. programme.
She approached the court after her JRF disbursal was blocked due to a mismatch between the name on her fellowship certificate and the name in her bank account.
According to the petition, Rithu formally updated her gender identity and name in January 2023, when the District Magistrate issued her a Form 3 certificate under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
In May 2024, she applied for the UGC-NET examination conducted by the NTA.
Since her academic records and Aadhaar had not yet been updated, she submitted her previous name in the application, while registering her gender as transgender/third gender.
She later cleared the exam in December 2024 and qualified for JRF.
After securing admission to a Ph.D. programme in Social Work, she opened a bank account under her self-identified name to receive fellowship funds through the UGC’s Scholarship and Fellowship Management Portal (SFMP).
However, her attempt to link the account was rejected on the grounds of a “beneficiary name mismatch,” preventing the release of her fellowship amount.
The petitioner argued that the denial of JRF funds, her only financial support for research resulted solely from institutional failure to recognise her legally updated identity.
This, she contended, violated her Fundamental Rights under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution and Sections 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 of the Transgender Persons Act.
Her plea sought directions to the UGC, NTA and Canara Bank to immediately rectify the records, release the fellowship, and award Rs. 25,000 as litigation costs.
During the hearing, the Court noted confusion between the UGC and NTA about which agency was responsible for correcting the certificate.
Clarifying the issue, Justice Arun held that the NTA must carry out the correction.
“The petitioner’s predicament arises from her lawful change of name and gender. It is for the National Testing Agency to carry out the correction,” the Court said, issuing the interim order.
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