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Hira Lal Sibal passes away
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 29
Noted lawyer Hira Lal Sibal, father of Union minister Kapil Sibal, today passed away after prolonged illness. He was 98.

His mortal remains were consigned to flames with full state honours here at Sector 25. His elder son VK Sibal performed last rites and lit the pyre amid prayers and 21-gun salute.

He breathed his last at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. He was admitted to the PGI's advanced cardiac centre on December 21 after complaining of cardiac ailment.

Hundreds of dignitaries from all walks of life paid homage to the prominent advocate who remained active in legal profession for more than 60 years. He was known for defending famous Urdu writers, Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai, in a legal trial on charges of obscenity at the Lahore High court in 1945.

Union ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and Manish Tiwari, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia, Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice AK Sikri, Justice Hemant Gupta, RK Jain, Surya Kant, Jasbir Singh and several senior bureaucrats of Chandigarh and nearby states were among the high profile dignitaries attended the cremation.