Indian govt refused to appoint gay judge: SC

NEW DELHI: India´s government has refused to appoint a senior lawyer as a judge because he is gay and has a foreign partner, the country´s Supreme Court said.

New Delhi only decriminalised gay sex in 2018 with a Supreme Court ruling, and opposition to gay rights is widespread in the largely conservative and devout nation of 1.4 billion people.

In November a Supreme Court panel including the chief justice unanimously recommended Saurabh Kirpal, who is openly gay, for appointment as a high court judge in Delhi.

But the government sent back his candidature, saying the country´s external intelligence agency and law ministry had objected on the grounds of his sexual orientation and “intimate relationship” with a Swiss national, the panel said on the court´s website. Kirpal was nominated on his merits, the panel said late on Thursday.