Who Is Saurabh Kirpal? First Openly Gay Judge Elevated To Delhi High Court

Chief Justice of India, N V Ramana headed the bench of the Supreme Court and gave its approval for the elevation of advocate Saurabh Kirpal, an openly gay person, as a judge of the Delhi High Court. The landmark step will make Kirpal the first and only person from the LGBTQ+ community to sit in a judge's chair.

The advocate was also recommended for the judge's position in 2017 by the Delhi HC collegium by then Chief Justice Gita Mittal and her Supreme Court had approved the same. However, the central government objected to his recommendation citing his sexual orientation. Since then, the controversy over the objection to his recommendation has made headlines.

According to the latest update, the Central government has rejected Kirpal's elevation on the grounds of being openly gay and also having a foreign national as his partner. In a rare move, the Apex court made the reason public revealing the government's objection to Kirpal's appointment. The proposal for Kirpal's appointment has been pending for five years now.

One of the most significant contributions of Kirpal is his part in the decriminalisation of homosexuality in India. He was part of the team of lawyers representing Navtej Singh Johar and Sunil Mehra who were petitioners in the landmark case.

Who Is Saurabh Kirpal?

• His father, Bhupinder Nath Kirpal was the Chief Justice of India in 2002.
• Kirpal studied law at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and has practised law for over two decades.
• After 2017, his recommendation for the judge post was a couple of other times--in January 2019 and August 2019-- before finally being approved on November 16.
• The central government has repeatedly objected to his recommendation, citing a conflict of interest due to his European partner and his work with the Swiss Embassy.
• Kirpal has said that the objection against his partner of 20 years who is of foreign origin and the security risk cited by the government is not the whole truth. He said in one of his interviews, "That is why I believe my sexuality is the reason why my candidature has not been considered for elevation as a judge."
• The central government also stated that his partner had previously worked with the non-profit international Committee of the Red Cross which has its headquarters in Switzerland.
• Kirpal was made senior advocate in the unanimous decision of 31 judges of the Delhi High Court in March this year.
• He has written a book titled Sex and The Supreme Court: How The Law Is Upholding The Dignity of The Indian Citizen. As per reports, the book contains collections of writings from prominent persons such as Justices B.D Ahmed, M.B Lokur, A.K Sikri, and advocate Mukul Rohtagi. Menaka Guruswamy, Arundhati Katju and Madhavi Divan.
• Kirpal has worked with the United Nations in Geneva in the past.

Suggested Reading: 

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