: Collegium backs gay lawyer for judge post #IndiaNEWS #India New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium has reiterated its November 11, 2021 recommendation for appointing senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal,

Collegium backs gay lawyer for judge post #IndiaNEWS #India
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium has reiterated its November 11, 2021 recommendation for appointing senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, an openly gay person, as a judge of the Delhi High Court, rejecting the Centres contention that though homosexuality stands decriminalised in India, same-sex marriage is still bereft of recognition. The three-member Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said the proposal for appointment of Kirpal as a judge of the high court has been pending for over five years and needs to be processed expeditiously.
In this backdrop, the Collegium resolves to reiterate its recommendation dated November 11, 2021, for the appointment of Shri Saurabh Kirpal as a Judge of the Delhi High Court which needs to be processed expeditiously, said a statement uploaded on the apex court website. Kirpal is the son of the former Chief Justice of India B N Kirpal. The recommendation unanimously made by the Collegium of the Delhi High Court on October 13, 2017, and approved by the Supreme Court Collegium on November 11, 2021 has been referred back to us on November 25, 2022 for reconsideration in light of the observations made in the file, it noted.
The Collegiums statement lauded Kirpal for being open about his sexual orientation, saying it goes to his credit that he has not been surreptitious about it. From the letters of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) dated April 11, 2019 and March 18, 2021, it appears that there are two objections to the recommendation which was made by the Collegium of this court on November 11, 2021 approving the name of Shri Saurabh Kirpal namely: (i) the partner of Shri Saurabh Kirpal is a Swiss national, and (ii) he is in an intimate relationship and is open about his sexual orientation, the apex court statement said.
The statement quoted the letter of the union Law Minister dated April 1, 2021 that though homosexuality stands de-criminalised in India, nonetheless same-sex marriage still remains bereft of recognition either in codified statutory law or uncodified personal law in India. Moreover, it has been stated that the candidates ardent involvement and passionate attachment to the cause of gay rights would not rule out the possibility of bias and prejudice, the statement said.
The Collegium, which dealt with both objections, said the two communications of R&AW do not reflect any apprehension in regard to the individual conduct or behaviour of the partner of Kirpal having a bearing on national security. It said there is no reason to pre-suppose that the partner of the candidate, who is a Swiss national, would be inimically disposed to India since the country of his origin is a friendly nation.

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