Supreme Court Collegium Recommends The Elevation Of Advocate Saurabh Kirpal As Delhi High Court Judge

The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meeting held on 11th November 2021, approved the proposal for the elevation of Saurabh Kirpal, Advocate, as Judge in the Delhi High Court.

A statement issued in this regard states thus:

"The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 11th November, 2021 has approved the proposal for elevation of Shri Saurabh Kirpal, Advocate, as Judge in the Delhi High Court."

According to media reports, in October 2017, the Delhi High Court Collegium [comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and justices Sanjeev Khanna and Ravindra Bhat] had unanimously recommended Saurabh Kirpal, for the appointment as the permanent judge of the Delhi High Court.

However, the proposal was deferred thrice by the Supreme Court Collegium [in September 2018, January 2019, and April 2019].

In an interview given to ThePrint last year, Kirpal, a Gay, had said that he believed his sexual orientation is probably the reason why the three-member Supreme Court collegium, then led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde (retired), has not taken a decision on his elevation. 

As per various media reports, in March this year, the then Chief Justice of India, Bobde had written to the Centre (the then Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad), asking it to clear the government's stand on senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal's elevation as a judge of the Delhi High Court so that a final decision can be taken on the same.

Recently, he was designated as a senior advocate in a decision taken unanimously i.e., by all 31 judges of the Delhi High Court.

Click here To Read/Download Collegium's Recommendation