Anusuya to Anukathir Surya: How an IRS officer made history by changing name, gender in official records

In a first, a senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer’s request to change her name and gender in all official records has been approved by the Centre.

M Anusuya, 35, a Joint Commissioner in the regional bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in  Hyderabad, had submitted the plea for name and gender change.

This is said to be the first case of a sex change in the Indian Civil Services. The Ministry of Finance has accepted the request of M Anusuya for change of her name to M Anukathir Surya and her gender from male to female.

“The request of Ms M Anusuya has been considered. Henceforth, the officer will be recognised as 'Mr M Anukathir Surya' in all official records,” reads the order issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India (GoI) on July 9.

Who is M Anukathir Surya?

Anukathir Surya started his career as an Assistant Commissioner in Chennai in December 2013, and was promoted to the rank of Deputy Commissioner in 2018.

Surya joined his current posting in Hyderabad last year.

He completed his Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication from the Madras Institute of Technology in Chennai.

He did PG Diploma in Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics from the National Law Institute University in Bhopal in 2023.

This development comes about a decade after the Supreme Court recognised the third gender in the NALSA case. The court said that gender identity was a personal choice.