Rajinder Chhibbar, senior lawyer and poet, passes away

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 2

A lawyer is known by the practice he keeps. However, senior advocate Rajinder Kumar Chhibbar was different. The number of cases he won, and the justice he ensured for people, and society, was just one aspect of the incredible success story he scripted for himself.

His real accomplishment lay in the way he lived his life to the fullest. His office and days were filled with law books, and thoughts with poetry. The way he mingled the two at times was remarkable. He was always solemn about the cases he handled. However, he had the ability of bringing Mirza Ghalib in, while explaining the intricacies of constitutional law to his friends, who visited him for new insights.

He Lived life to the fullest

His real accomplishment lay in the way he lived his life to the fullest. His office and days were filled with law books, and thoughts with poetry. The way he mingled the two at times was remarkable.

His never-ending zeal and exuberance was contagious and his aptitude to value the richness of human experience was remarkable. He was a gentleman, who loved Urdu shayari and appreciated relationships.

You could not come out of his house without savouring hospitality and new Urdu words, if you were his friend. Having a penchant for perfection, it was obvious that your pronunciation of words was required to be perfect. Like a teacher who refuses to gives up, Chhibbar would make you repeat the word till he was satisfied with the pronunciation.

His inclination for excellence was also reflected in his work. It was no less even in cases where only social cause was involved. Chhibbar was not holding anyone’s brief when he appeared before the Punjab and Haryana High Court for safeguarding the legacy of Seth Bhagirath Dass.

The senior advocate had willed that his property be put to use for charitable and educational purposes. Chhibbar was initially representing an applicant in the matter. However, during the course of the proceedings, the applicant died, and Chhibbar was left without instructions.

But Chhibbar continued to appear “as a member of the general public”, as the masses were “the beneficiary under the will”. “When I joined the practice, Seth Bhagirath Dass was the High Court Bar Association president. How could I let his legacy crumble?” Chhibbar said after the conclusion of the hearing in the matter.

Chhibbar had the rare distinction of being a senior advocate for more than three decades. In fact, Chhibbar was a part of the Punjab and Haryana High Court since 1962 and was designated senior in 1989. His son, Anand Chhibbar, too, is a designated senior lawyer.

Young at 87, senior Chhibbar passed away this morning. For many, his demise was nothing less than the goodbye of a teacher. For others, it was time not just to lament his passing away, but also to commemorate the way he lived his life.

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