He began his legal career as an advocate in 1962 and was appointed a Judge of Delhi High Court in November 1979.

In December 1993, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.

Over the course of his Supreme Court tenure, Kirpal authored 195 judgments and sat on 916 benches.

[2] After retirement as the Chief Justice of India, he was appointed the 1st Chairman of the National Forest Commission on 21 February 2003.

[citation needed] He was married to late Aruna Kirpal (née Sachdev) and has three children.