New Delhi: The Indian government has refused to appoint a senior lawyer as a judge on the grounds that he is gay and has a foreign partner, the country’s Supreme Court said.
New Delhi only decriminalized gay sex in a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, and opposition to gay rights is widespread in a largely conservative and devout country of 1.4 billion people.
Attitudes towards homosexuality have softened somewhat among the urban middle class, but many gay Indians still run the risk of being shunned by family, friends or work even if they come out. .
In November, a Supreme Court panel, including the Chief Justice, unanimously recommended the appointment of openly gay Saurabh Kirpal as a High Court judge in Delhi.
But the government has withdrawn his candidacy, saying that the country’s external intelligence services and the Ministry of Justice opposed him, citing his sexual orientation and “close ties” to the Swiss public, a panel on the court’s website said. said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has resisted attempts to formally recognize same-sex relationships in cases heard in lower courts.
The committee said late Thursday that Mr Kirpal had been nominated for merit, praising his candor about his orientation and saying that denying him promotion would violate his “constitutionally recognized rights”. Stated.
According to a statement, India’s justice minister noted Kirpal’s “intense commitment and passionate attachment to the gay rights cause”, which he said increased the “potential for prejudice and prejudice.”
“Despite homosexuality being decriminalized in India, same-sex marriage is still not recognized in codified statutes or unwritten personal law in India,” the minister added.
Several petitioners are seeking a Supreme Court hearing in hopes of allowing same-sex marriage.
The court and Modi’s Hindu nationalist government are embroiled in a dispute over the appointment of judges. Twenty of his nominations were returned in the past year, and the committee resubmitted his Kirpal name for appointment.
Switzerland is a friendly country and “there was no reason to assume” that his Swiss partners “would turn against us”, the panel added.
AFP could not reach Kirpal for comment on Friday. The commission said it had advised him not to speak to the media.- AFP