In 2019, a law was passed on the process of legal gender recognition, but it is strongly criticised by human rights organisation such as Human Rights Watch and activists in India. For legal recognition, it requires surgical operation by an official hospital. It violates several court rulings, most notably a ruling of the Supreme Court of India in 2014, which stated that ‘trans people have a right to legal gender recognition, without the requirement of medical surgeries. Also, in its decision, the court recognised the need for positive action towards trans* people.

The law passed in 2019 explicitly prohibits discrimination against trans* people, but as already shown for Germany, a prohibition of discrimination does not mean the reality of life of trans* people is free of discrimination.