GUWAHATI: Assam will witness its first transgender judge mediate cases in the Lok Adalat of Kamrup (metro) district and sessions judge.
In a welcome change, Swati Bidhan Baruah has been appointed by the Kamrup (Metro) District legal service authority to act as a mediator in pre-litigation cases related to finance companies. Baruah, will be a member of the 20-member judges’ bench to be presided over by H. Ali Hazarika, a retired district and sessions judge.
The 26-year-old Baruah had earlier filed a PIL in the Gauhati High Court for non-implementation of a 2014 Supreme Court order on the welfare of transgenders. The Gauhati High Court, in May 2018, directed the state government to implement it within six months.
The appointment of Baruah comes as a relief to over 5,000 transgenders living in Assam who had to run from pillar to post with their legal and other social problems. They have a new hope in the form of Baruah.
