Sexual Orientation Has Nothing To Do With Judges' Abilities: Chief Justice
NDTV
The CJI said the object of the Collegium system was to maintain independence and that can be done by insulating it from outside influences.
Not every system is perfect but this is the best system developed by the judiciary, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Saturday while defending the Collegium system of judges appointing judges, a major bone of contention between the government and judiciary.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave, 2023, the 50th CJI also took questions on the controversy over the SC Collegium's reiteration of openly gay senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal for appointment as a judge of the Delhi High Court after it was rejected by the government.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said the sexual orientation of a candidate for judgeship has nothing to do with his ability.
"The candidate (Kirpal) you are referring to, every aspect which was mentioned in the report of the Intelligence Bureau was in the public domain. The candidate in question is open about his sexual orientation. So, when the IB flagged something, we were not really opening up IB sources of information. What could be the danger? Someone might say if you put the IB report in public domain, you might be compromising the sources of information of the IB on the issues of national security. Somebody's life may be in danger.
