Anukathir Surya: In a First, IRS Officer Gets Approval for Changing Name and Gender

Hyderabad: In a first in the history of the Indian Civil Service, a Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer has been given permission to officialy change name and gender to be identified as a man. His new name is Anukathir Surya.

The 35-year-old officer's request for name and gender change was approved by the ministry of finance by an order dated July 9 which read, "The request of [The Wire is withholding her deadname] has been considered. Henceforth, the officer will be recognised as Mr. M. Anukathir Surya in all official records."

The order also said the decision was taken with the approval of the competent authority. It was marked to the chief commissioner (authorised representative), Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) at Hyderabad where the officer is posted as joint commissioner.

All principal chief commissioners and principal directors general under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs were also served the order.

Anukathir Surya is an IRS officer of Income Tax and Customs belonging to the 2013 batch. He started his career as assistant commissioner in the office of the principal commissioner of Central Excise, Chennai I Commissionerate.

He was promoted to deputy commissioner in the same office in 2018. He joined the CESTAT at Hyderabad in 2023.

As per his profile on Linkedin, he hails from Tamil Nadu and holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. He completed a post-graduate diploma in cyber law and cyber forensics from National Law Institute University at Bhopal.

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