Hira Lal Sibal (24 September 1914 – 29 December 2012) was an Indian lawyer, jurist and two-time Advocate General of Punjab and Haryana, known for his legal defence of cases against the noted Urdu writers, Ismat Chugtai and Saadat Hasan Manto in 1945. He practised at

Punjab and Haryana High Court Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64 Pe ...

and the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

. Sibal started his practice in 1937 at

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and moved to

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

in 1948 after the Indian independence but later settled in Chandigarh in 1955 to practise at the

. He served as the Advocate General for the States of Punjab and Haryana, for two terms each, respectively but was reported to have declined an offer to become a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. During his Lahore days, he successfully defended Malik Ghulam Nabi, who would later become a minister in the

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

government, in a kidnapping case and was the counsel for Ismat Chugtai and Saadat Hasan Manto in the cases against them for indecent writing in 1945; the former was fined while the latter was acquitted. Sibal was a recipient of the Punjab Rattan Award of the Government of Punjab and the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA in 2018 had a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associati ...

awarded him the ''Living Legend of Law'' honor in 1994. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, in 2006, for his contributions to Law. He died on 29 December 2012, at the age of 98. Virender Sibal and Jitendar Sibal, the elder two of his sons are former

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

officers while the third son, Kanwal Sibal, is a former Foreign Secretary of India. The youngest of the sons, Kapil Sibal, is a noted senior lawyer, a politician aligned with the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and a former Union Minister who held various portfolios in the UPA Government from 2009 to 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibal, Hira Lall Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs 2012 deaths 20th-century Indian lawyers Chandigarh politicians Lawyers from Lahore Advocates general for Indian states 1914 births

See also

References