Who does not know all over the world that Mr Kapil Sibal who is one of the most eminent and distinguished lawyers and jurist that India has ever produced in its soil took birth in this great city named Jalandhar on August 8, 1948? He has been India’s Union Law Minister, Union Human Resource Development Minister and has handled many other most important portfolios in Centre in Dr Manmohan Singh regime as PM and earlier also! Whatever he has earned in life till now is solely and solely because of his sheer intelligence and relentless hard work! No doubt, he was born in a rich family of lawyers and his father late Mr Hira Lal Sibal was a most eminent lawyer, jurist and two times Advocate General of Punjab and Haryana who declined an offer to become Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court and who started his practice from Lahore High Court in undivided India in 1937 and then migrated to Shimla and ultimately settled in Chandigarh. Mr Hira Lal Sibal was a recipient of the Punjab Rattan Award of the Government of Punjab and the International Bar Association awarded him the “Living Legend of Law” honour in 1994. The Government of India very rightly awarded him the third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2006 for his contributions to law. His two elder sons Virender Sibal and Jitendar Sibal are former IAS officers while his third son named Kanwal Sibal has been India’s former Foreign Secretary whose editorials I always enjoy reading in top newspapers and top magazines just like that of Mr Kapil Sibal.
Very few know that Mr Kapil Sibal had qualified for IAS in 1973 but as he did not get IFS like his elder brother Mr Kanwal Sibal and wife late Mrs Nina Sibal and so he decided not to join IAS and continue to pursue law in the Supreme Court as lawyer in which he enrolled in 1972 and really excelled also breaking all barriers emerging as one of the biggest legend that India has ever produced. He did his BA and MA in history from St Stephens College, University of Delhi and so also LLB from University of Delhi as he moved to Delhi in mid-1960s from Chandigarh and completed his LLM from Harvard Law School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts in USA in 1977 while his wife late Mrs Nina Sibal was posted in USA as she was in IFS and also practiced law in Wall Street.
It must be disclosed here that Mr Kapil Sibal was designated as a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court in 1983 at the young age of just 35! He became India’s Additional Solicitor General of India in 1989-90. He earned wide acclaim all over the world in 1993 after he successfully, rationally and most robustly defended the former Chief Justice of High Court of Punjab and Haryana and a Supreme Court Judge – Mr V Ramaswami against impeachment proceedings in the Lok Sabha. He also very rightly underscored what Francis Bacon once famously said that, “The place of justice is a hallowed place, and therefore not only the Bench, but also the foot space and precincts and purpose thereof ought to be preserved without scandal and corruption.”
By all accounts, it must be gracefully conceded that the sheer elegance, immaculate eloquence and so also most meticulous, logical and forceful arguments that Mr Kapil Sibal forwarded in most gracious manner fortunately saved Mr V Ramaswani from being impeached turning the tides in his favour and this very rightly earned laurels for him thus becoming known all over as a well known specialist in Constitutional law. Apart from writing in many reputed newspapers and law journals also, Mr Kapil Sibal also published two volumes of poetry named I witness (2008) and My World Within (2012).
It certainly deserves mentioning here that he was nominated for the first time to the Rajya Sabha in 1998 representing the Congress party from Bihar. In 2000-02, Mr Kapil Sibal had served there as Secretary of Congress’s parliamentary membership. It also definitely merits mentioning here that Mr Kapil Sibal had contested from Chandni Chowk for Lok Sabha and won in 2004 and 2009. It is also worth mentioning here that he left the Indian National Congress party in 2022 only to file his nomination again for the Rajya Sabha independently but backed solidly by Samajwadi Party and won.
Most recently, Mr Kapil Sibal was in news again when he threw in his hat in the ring for the prime post of the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. The polls were held to elect the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association on May 16 and the results were declared in night. It must be mentioned here that Mr Sibal got 1066 votes and his nearest rival and senior lawyer Mr Pradeep Rai got 689 votes. So Mr Kapil Sibal won decisively by a comfortable and clear margin of 377 votes.
As we witnessed, he said on being elected to top post that he will ensure that there is complete cooperation between the Bar and the Bench to ensure smooth dispensation of justice in the Supreme Court. It may be recalled that Mr Kapil Sibal had last served as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2001-02. It may also be recalled that Mr Sibal had earlier also served twice before that also as well in 1995-96 and so also in 1997-98. So this is the fourth term of Mr Sibal as President.
It is definitely worth noting that even before getting elected to the prestigious post of President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Mr Kapil Sibal while speaking his mind to journalists of ‘The Indian Express’ newspaper said most reassuringly that he intends to ensure that politics is not brought into the courtroom. When asked by journalists about his politics, Mr Sibal said that politics must be outside the courtroom. Delving deeper and speaking straight about his position on it, Mr Sibal said that, “The fact of the matter is that a lawyer is first a lawyer, right? He owes his duty to the values of the Constitution. Some of us are politicians as well but we cannot bring politics into the Bar… We can do our politics independent of the Bar.”
While explaining further his stand, Mr Kapil Sibal said very elegantly, eloquently and effectively that, “Our ideology is the Constitution of India… to uphold the rule of law and to protect citizens from excesses of the State. That’s what a lawyer is for, right? Every government in the history of the world always exceeds the exercise of powers that is warranted by the law. And the lawyers are there to protect the citizens. That’s the only ideology and I don’t think we should bring politics into it at all. I’ve never brought it. I intend to ensure that does not happen.” Absolutely right!
It must also certainly be mentioned here that Mr Kapil Sibal while responding to the Chief Justice of India Dr DY Chandrachud who congratulated the veteran lawyer on his decisive poll victory for the most prestigious post of President waxed eloquent observing that, “It is my honour that I got this post after 22 years. I promise that there will be complete cooperation from our end because without that the objectives which we strike to achieve will not be possible.” He further reiterated once again his firm stand known all over stating unequivocally that, “The Bar has to be cognizant of its own responsibilities and conduct in a fashion that demands the respect of the judges. I think the Bar and Bench are two sides of the same coin and an independent Bar brings an independent judiciary. Ultimately, the independence of the judiciary is fundamental to the rule of law.” There can be just no denying or disputing it!
Frankly speaking, Mr Kapil Sibal also reiterated further that, “That’s all we want. We don’t want any favours from anybody. But we want the court to be perceived by the public as an independent institution, unconcerned with the politics of the day.” It must be mentioned here that on him entering the race for the coveted post of President after nearly 25 years which was totally unexpected this time, Mr Sibal said that he is deeply committed to the judiciary and to the institution. He also added further stating that, “This is my life, you know. I’ve had 50 years in this court, it’s a long time. I am wedded to it and I want the court to thrive. I want every citizen of this country to have great confidence in this institution.”
On October 26, 2024, Mr Kapil Sibal while delivering a captivating lecture at the Sikkim Judicial Academy argued most fluently saying that the true test of any judiciary lies in public trust. He said that, “If people lack confidence in the judiciary, it undermines its effectiveness.” He also very sagaciously suggested that India rethink colonial-era laws and practices, such as police remand, which he characterized as antithetical to modern democratic principles.
While underscoring the urgent and dire need for reforms that align perfectly with best global practices, Sibal was quick to point out that, “In developed countries, investigations precede arrests while here, arrests precede investigations.” Absolutely right! It is the “poorest of the poor” who suffer the most and spend more time in jail as an undertrial than the criminal who commits the crime as he is unable to fight the case which reflects the shoddy state of affairs in our legal system which must be changed root and branch! It was Mr Kapil Sibal who as Union Law Minister had most commendably recommended creation of High Court Bench in West UP yet we saw that it was not implemented as the then Chief Minister Mr Akhilesh Yadav did not recommend the same!
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