Govt repeats objections, SC collegium to take call on Saurabh Kirpal’s elevation as HC judge

Last month, CJI Bobde had written to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad seeking a clarification on the intelligence inputs that the collegium had received on Kirpal amidst speculation that the appointment was stalled due to his sexuality.

In October 2017, the Delhi High Court collegium headed by Justice Gita Mittal had recommended Kirpal to be appointed a judge. Almost a year later, the Supreme Court collegium decided to take take it up for consideration “after some time”.

When it came up again in January 2019 and subsequently in April 2019, the collegium deferred its decision. The latest batch of recommendations made in August 2020 related to Delhi High Court appointments, made no reference to Kirpal’s recommendation.

On March 19, Kirpal was designated senior advocate unanimously by all 31 judges of the Delhi High Court.

As per the Memorandum of Procedure for appointing judges, once the Supreme Court collegium recommends a name to the government, the government can either appoint the person or send the file back to the collegium for reconsideration. The collegium can then either withdraw or reiterate its recommendation. The reiteration is binding on the government.

On September 6, 2018, two days after the SC collegium first considered and deferred Kirpal’s name for appointment as judge, a five-judge constitution bench read down IPC Section 377 that criminalised homosexuality.