Saurabh Kirpal, an Indian senior advocate, author, and LGBTQ+ rights activist, was born on April 18, 1972, the son of B. N. Kirpal, a former Chief Justice of India. Saurabh completed a bachelor’s degree in physics at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, followed by law degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. After a short tenure with the UN in Geneva, he returned to India and has been practising law in the Supreme Court of India for over 20 years, specialising in civil, commercial, and constitutional law. Kirpal was also counsel for the landmark case decided in 2018 that decriminalised consensual same-sex relations in India. Kirpal has also been serving on the board of the Naz Foundation Trust, an NGO that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights. Kirpal was designated a senior advocate by the Delhi High Court in March 2021. Kirpal is in a long-term relationship with Nicolas Germain Bachmann, a Swiss human rights activist.