A transgender civil service officer’s request to change his gender and deadname from official records and replace it with his chosen name has been approved by the government. The Ministry of Finance issued an order to this effect on July 9, allowing the 35-year-old Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer’s name change to M Anukathir Surya. A deadname is the name a person used before their transition.

This marks the first instance in the history of Indian civil services. The order stated, “The request of Ms. M Anusuya has been considered. Henceforth, the officer will be recognized as ‘Mr. M Anukathir Surya’ in all official records.”

Anukathir, an officer of the Customs and Indirect Taxes (C&IT) department from the 2013 batch, presently serves as the Joint Commissioner in the office of the Chief Commissioner (AR) of the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Hyderabad.

The senior IRS officer began his career as an Assistant Commissioner in the Central Board of C&IT in Chennai and was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 2018. He joined CESTAT in Hyderabad last year.

Anukathir hails from Tamil Nadu and has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication from the Madras Institute of Technology and a PG Diploma in Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics from the National Law Institute University in Bhopal, which he finished in 2023.