Bar association honours 92-yr-old advocate Sibal

The Senior Advocates’ Bar Association of the Punjab and Haryana High Court gathered Wednesday afternoon to honour one of its most enduring figures –– SC Sibal. At 92, the senior advocate returned to the centre of a profession he inhabited for more than half a century at the event being organised not only to honour his long professional journey, but also to warmly welcome the newly designated senior advocates into the fraternity.

The event brought together senior members of the Bar for a wider interaction on institutional traditions and the culture of mentorship —an aspect the association has been keen to foreground. Known for his quiet dignity and an unwavering commitment to the craft of advocacy, Sibal’s presence at the event added a rare touch of history and continuity to the Bar. Born in 1932 in then-undivided Punjab’s Kangra district, Sibal’s early years were shaped by Partition turmoil. As a Class X student at SD High School, Lahore, he witnessed the eruption of violence that ultimately displaced his family. His elder brother, late Hiralal Sibal, stayed back through the riots to assist victims before reuniting with the family in Jalandhar — an example of professional courage that deeply influenced the younger Sibal.

From Shimla to Chandigarh, and later Jalandhar, his educational journey unfolded alongside the financial constraints typical of a post-Partition middle-class household. Sibal supported himself through tough jobs — including stints in the Food and Supplies Department and even in the Civil and Defence Services — before graduating in law in 1958 to begin his practice.

What followed was a distinguished career stretching over 55 years, including 30 as an advocate and another 25 as a designated senior advocate 1989 onwards. His brief tenure as Additional Advocate-General, Punjab, and his appearances alongside stalwarts such as Justice JN Kaushal, Justice Kuldeep Singh and Justice JL Gupta, form part of the institutional memory of the High Court Bar.

Though he stepped away from active practice in 2014 following the elevation of his son, Justice Deepak Sibal, to the Bench, SC Sibal remains a revered figure at the Bar, still visiting occasionally to meet colleagues and revisit the landscape of his professional life.

The gathering reflected that long, eventful journey — one marked by discipline, perseverance, and an unbroken thread of commitment to the values of advocacy. The speech he delivered drew from personal memory as much as institutional experience. It came from a man who witnessed the evolution of the legal profession from the smoky corridors of the 1950s to the digital courtrooms of the present day.