The Madras High Court has issued notices to the National Medical Council (NMC) and the Tamil Nadu government following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that alleges unethical practices and violations of World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) protocols at two transgender clinics in the state.

A bench comprising Justices SS Sundar and P Dhanabal directed the NMC and the State’s Health and Family Welfare Department to file their responses within four weeks.

The PIL, filed by a transgender person, highlighted that while Tamil Nadu is among the few States with exclusive transgender clinics, staff at these facilities often deviate from the WPATH Standards of Care prescribed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

The petitioner alleged that patients at the clinics—established in 2022 at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai, and Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai—are subjected to unethical practices, including being asked to undress unnecessarily and undergoing the banned two-finger test.

The clinics, initially set up to provide counselling and specialized medical care for transgender individuals, have reportedly failed to adhere to professional protocols.

Seeking to eliminate such objectionable and medically unjustified practices, the plea urged the Court to direct the two hospitals to follow ethical guidelines.

Additionally, it called for a standard operating protocol for gender affirmation surgeries, emphasizing that the absence of such protocols undermines the objectives of Section 15(e) of the Transgender Persons Act.