New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- A full bench of the Delhi high court has sought the Union defence ministry's stance on whether the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has the authority to assess the constitutionality of the provision in the Navy Act that excludes transgender individuals from being eligible for appointment in the Navy. Section 9 specifies the eligibility criteria for joining the Indian Navy or the Indian Naval Reserve Forces, stipulating that only Indian citizens can be appointed. It provides that women are ineligible for appointment or enrolment, except in certain departments, branches, or roles as notified by the central government. A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay, and justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla, on October 17, asked the Centre to specify if AFT could also adjudicate on the constitutional validity of statutes other than the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007. The court, in its order released later, said the ministry's stand was important since the outcome of the case would impact armed forces personnel, including the Army, and Air Force, appointed senior advocate Gautam Narayan as amicus to assist in the matter, and fixed November 28 as the next date of hearing. "We clarify that since this matter may have an impact over the personnel of all the Armed Forces, including those of the Army and Air Force as well, apart from the Navy, we provide that the instructions in the matter shall be provided to learned counsel for the respondents by none other than the secretary, ministry of defence, Government of India or any other high-ranked officer nominated by him for the said purpose," the court said. The proceedings stemmed from a petition filed by a former sailor in the Indian Navy challenging the constitutionality of section 9 of the Navy Act, various provisions of the Navy regulations, on the ground that they did not recognise the identity of transgender persons. The former officer was appointed as a sailor and informed the naval authorities of gender dysphoria and requirement of medical intervention in February 2015. However, the authorities allegedly ignored the concerns and resorted to psychiatric counselling instead. In October 2016, the officer underwent gender affirmation surgery but after learning about the procedure, the authorities allegedly confined the officer to a psychiatric ward for five months without justification. When the officer returned to duty in April 2017, the authorities issued a showcause notice and discharged the officer in October, on the basis that the existing service rules did not permit the sailor's continued employment owing to the altered gender status, medical condition and employability restrictions. The Centre, represented by additional SG Chetan Sharma, challenged the maintainability of the petition on the ground that the AFT was competent to adjudicate the vires of the act and regulations....