Hira Lal Sibal | |
|---|---|
 Hira Lal Sibal receiving Padma Bhushan from president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. | |
| Advocate General ofHaryana | |
| In office 24 June 1991 – 10 May 1996 | |
| In office 4 February 1985 – 11 July 1986 | |
| Advocate General ofPunjab | |
| In office 11 April 1970 – 24 January 1972 | |
| In office 10 June 1968 – 19 February 1969 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1914-09-24)24 September 1914 |
| Died | (2012-12-29)29 December 2012 (aged 98) Chandigarh, India |
| Children | Kanwal Sibal Kapil Sibal |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan Punjab Rattan Award Living Legend of Law |
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 andSaadat Hasan Manto in 1945.[1] He practised atPunjab and Haryana High Court and theSupreme Court of India.[2]
Sibal started his practice in 1937 atLahore ofBritish India[3] and moved toShimla in 1948 after the Indian independence but later settled in Chandigarh in 1955 to practise at thePunjab and Haryana High Court.[4] He served as the Advocate General for the States of Punjab and Haryana, for two terms each, respectively[1][5] but was reported to have declined an offer to become a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.[6] During his Lahore days, he successfully defended Malik Ghulam Nabi, who would later become a minister in theZulfikar Ali Bhutto government, in a kidnapping case[4] and was the counsel forIsmat Chugtai andSaadat Hasan Manto in the cases against them for indecent writing in 1945; the former was fined₹90 while the latter was acquitted.[1]
Sibal was a recipient of thePunjab Rattan Award of the Government of Punjab[7] and theInternational Bar Association awarded him theLiving Legend of Law honor in 1994.[4] The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of thePadma Bhushan, in 2006, for his contributions to Law.[8] He died on 29 December 2012, at the age of 98.[2] Virender Sibal and Jitendar Sibal, the elder two of his sons are formerIndian Administrative Service officers while the third son,Kanwal Sibal, is a formerForeign Secretary of India.[9] The youngest of the sons,Kapil Sibal, is a noted senior lawyer, a politician aligned with theIndian National Congress and a former Union Minister who held various portfolios in theUPA Government from 2009 to 2014.[9]
