India May Get its First Gay High Court Judge
India May Get its First Gay High Court Judge
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended that senior advocate Saurabh Kripal be elevated to the position of Delhi High Court judge.
The decision is significant because it is the first time the SC collegium has recommended the appointment of an openly gay member of the judiciary to the bench.
In response to the collegium’s recommendation, senior advocate Indira Jaising wrote on Twitter, “Congratulations to Saurabh Kripal who is set to become the first gay judge of a High Court in the country . Finally we are set to be an inclusive judiciary ending discrimination based on sexual orientation“
In March of this year, then-CJI of the Supreme Court of India SA Bobde requested clarification from the central government regarding Saurabh Kripal’s elevation to the Delhi High Court as a judge.
This is reportedly the fourth time that the final decision on Kripal’s elevation has been postponed since his name was unanimously recommended for promotion by the Delhi High Court Collegium in October 2017.
Saurabh Kripal graduated from Delhi’s St Stephen’s College with a bachelor’s degree in law from Oxford University and a master’s degree in law from Cambridge University.
He spent more than two decades practising law in India’s Supreme Court, following a brief stint with the United Nations in Geneva.
Saurabh Kripal represented the petitioners in Navtej Singh Jauhar v Union of India, which resulted in the Supreme Court quashing Section 377 of the Constitution in September 2018.
In a previous interview with ThePrint, Kripal stated that he believed his sexual orientation was likely a factor in the SC collegium deferring a decision on his elevation to the high court.
News Courtesy :- LAW TREND
