RIJIJU’S FRESH SALVO: SC PUTTING RAW, IB INPUTS IN PUBLIC A GRAVE CONCERN

Reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision to make public the RAW and Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports on the appointment of judges in the High Courts, Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said putting RAW and IB inputs in the public domain is a matter of serious concern. While addressing a press conference on the awards for eCourts Projects, Kiren Rijiju expressed happiness regarding the good work done by the Department of Justice and the impact it has in dispensing justice to the people. On recent comments made by Supreme Court regarding a delay in the appointments on the Collegium recommendations, the Law minister Kiren Rijiju said, “No one should make a comment on a judicial order. But, these are administrative orders and not judicial. I have seen some tweets that are making comments about NJAC is contempt. The order of the bench is totally different and this is all administrative.” Recently, the Supreme Court Collegium has resolved to reiterate its recommendation dated November 11, 2021, for the appointment of Saurabh Kirpal as a Judge of the Delhi High Court and stressed that it needs to be processed expeditiously. Collegium mentioned the letter of the Law Minister dated 1 April 2021 which states 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 and the candidate’s “ardent involvement and passionate attachment to the cause of gay rights” would not rule out the possibility of bias and prejudice. “As regards the first objection, the two communications of R&AW do not reflect any apprehension in regard to the individual conduct or behaviour of the partner of Saurabh Kirpal having a bearing on national security. There is no reason to presuppose that the partner of the candidate, who is a Swiss National, would be inimically disposed to our country since the country of his origin is a friendly nation,” SC Collegium clarified. “Many persons in high positions including present and past holders of constitutional offices have and had spouses who are foreign Nationals. Hence, as a matter of principle, there can be no objection to the candidature of Saurabh Kirpal on the ground that his partner is a Foreign National,” SC collegium pointed. “As regards the second objection, it needs to be noted that the decisions of the Constitution Bench of this Court have established the constitutional position that every individual is entitled to maintain their own dignity and individuality, based on sexual orientation,” SC Collegium said. “The fact that Saurabh Kirpal has been open about his orientation is a matter which goes to his credit. As a prospective candidate for the judgeship, he has not been surreptitious about his orientation,” SC Collegium said. In view of the constitutionally recognized rights which the candidate espouses, it would be manifestly contrary to the constitutional principles laid down by the Supreme Court to reject his candidature on that ground, the Collegium said. The recommendation unanimously made by the Collegium of the Delhi High Court on 13 October 2017, and approved by the Supreme Court Collegium on 11 November 2021 has been referred back to us on 25 November 2022, for reconsideration. The proposal has been pending for over five years. The SC Collegium took note of the letters of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) dated 11 April 2019, and 18 March 2021, and said that it appears that there are two objections to the recommendation which was made by the Collegium of this Court on 11 November 2021, approving the name of Saurabh Kirpal namely, the partner of Saurabh Kirpal is a Swiss National, and he is in an intimate relationship and is open about his sexual orientation.