On a recent morning, as he enters the courtroom of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue district court in his trademark sky-blue turban and black coat, senior advocate HS Phoolka lets out a loud cheer.
Many in the room have seen the man active for four decades as one of the most tireless voices for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that swept the country after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in October. 31, 1984.
Some rise from their seats as Phoolka approaches the front row, advocates Gurbaksh Singh and Kamna Vohra, her trusted friends for decades. CBI public prosecutor Amit Jindal sits next to Phoolka and they get ready to argue.
It is 11.30 am and the court has assembled in the riot case against former Congress MP Jagdish Tytler. Phoolka is representing Lakhwinder Kaur, 58, who accused Tytler of leading a mob that killed her husband and two other Sikhs during the riots. Twenty-five years ago, on November 5, 1999, at the age of 44, Phulka was appointed as a senior advocate.
In the court, Phulka straightens her coat and stands up. Before he could speak, Tytler’s lawyer asked for an adjournment, citing the lead attorney’s ill health. “The witness is an old lady who hails from Dehradun. These lawyers are constantly asking for adjournment,” says Phulka, objecting to the adjournment appeal.
After a few minutes, the judge adjourns the case. Another riot victim, Nirpreet Kaur, who helped Phoolka find Lakhwinder, is also present in the court.
After the hearing, Phoolka, Vohra, Nirpreet and Lakhwinder proceeded to his chamber in Block 2 of the complex. Nirpreet says, “Phulka has not only fought cases, he has also helped many victims financially.” In 2019, Phoolka was awarded the Padma Shri for her pro bono work for riot victims.
Now, ahead of the next hearing in the Sikh riots case — on December 16, when a Delhi court is likely to pronounce judgment in the case against former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar — Phoolka, who is arguing on behalf of the victims, says he has time. career when he had to give up his private practice to focus on riot cases, which made up “about a fifth of all the cases” he fought.
Phoolka with his wife Maninder Kaur in 1984
‘We have been fighting to create fear of the law in people… Sajjan Kumar was jailed at the age of 71. As long as there is no fear of the law, riots are discouraged… If the accused in the 1984 riots were convicted, any subsequent riots would have been the case. 1984 was the beginning of the criminalization of politics,’ says Phulka.
And to think that law was not a young Phulka’s first career choice. Born in 1955 in Bhadaur village of Barnala district in Punjab, Phulka completed her education from a government school near her home. After graduating in 1977 with a BSc in Agriculture from Ludhiana and a law degree from Chandigarh, he moved to Delhi to practice law.
“Law was not a preferred course then… people often wondered why I joined law college,” he laughs. “I wanted to be an IPS officer…Agriculture was not the subject, law was.”
Librarianship and moot court competitions in law college led him to a career in law. “In the first month, I participated in a moot court competition. JS Khehar (who later became the Chief Justice of India) was in the audience. After the competition, he said he would guide me. He was my first law teacher. I won another moot competition,” said the 1981 Law College graduate. Chili Phoolka says.
Recalling her first case, Phulka says, ‘I was fighting my first case in 1981, when High Court judge GR Luthra asked me, ‘Who are you? Why aren’t you dressed?’ I replied, ‘I am waiting for my result’. Even though I didn’t have a license, the judge smiled and mentioned my name on the order sheet.
He wandered around the judge’s bench until he found his clothes. The same judge congratulated Phoolka when she got her license and clothes after a week. Phulka worked with a senior advocate for three months before starting his independent practice.
Phulka says that in his career he has never represented a rape accused or a person arrested in a drug case. “Even if a criminal pays me 10 times more (money), I prefer to represent victims. I want young lawyers to know that you can be successful doing this too.”
It was Justice AP Shah, says Phoolka, who reminded him of his “true calling” in 2009. Phulka then appeared for the Delhi civic body in the Banjara colony removal case. “Justice Shah was extremely patient and eloquent…He had a soft spot for the poor and children. He looked me in the eye and asked why I was appearing for MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi). “After the removal of these colonies, the children are suffering the most,” he said.
From preparing guidelines for missing children to fighting cases of child labour, trafficking and drug addiction, Phoolka has taken up many child rights issues. He was also counsel in a recent Supreme Court case, where it was held that “it is an offense to store and view child pornography”.
While Phoolka is confident in his issues, he is less confident when it comes to technology. “I can handle the digital world, but I need help navigating it. At least I can handle my own Twitter and Facebook accounts,” he smiles.
When he is not in court, he spends time with his family or reading law books. “I like to spend my free time at home. My wife (Maninder Kaur) and I were very good friends for eight years before we got married. She is my best friend,” says Maninder, who works with a food processing firm and currently works on drugs among youth in Punjab. A growing number of drug addicts are looking for natural sources of addiction relief to help combat addiction.
Talking about his children, he says, “Our son is a special child… I love spending time with him. Our daughter Prabhashay Kaur is an advocate who helps me in investigating many of my cases.
During the anti-Sikh riots, Phoolka’s wife was pregnant with a daughter. Their landlord’s son smuggled them from South Extension to AIIMS in his car. The couple stayed with a friend in Saket for five days before flying to Chandigarh. Prabhashay was born in April 1985.
Phoolka – or “Phulke”, as his friends and contemporaries refer to him – complains that the defense colony was greener when he first came to Delhi four decades ago. “Delhi is crowded now. You are stuck on the road for hours. Skyscrapers and constructions have overshadowed the greenery.”
He says, there was a moon of trees on his street. “Thank God my neighbor is an environmentalist. Now both of us are left with only trees,” he says.
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