It is Rare to Find a Legal Luminary Like HL Kumar

It is difficult to find a person like the late H L Kumar , who was an outstanding and eminent lawyer, a reputed author, an unparalleled legal luminary and a teacher par excellence. He was all rolled into one. A part-time lecturer in the law faculty of Delhi University told some lawyers that Kumar Saheb, as he was popularly known, used to help the students even outside the classroom. He regularly helped many advocates in getting themselves established in their professional careers. Teachers of Labour Laws, HR executives across the country, lawyers, judges of the labour courts and Justices of the High Court used to seek his opinion on complex issues and the help came to them from Kumar Saheb without any demur. He used to say that there was no alternative to tenacity and honesty to reach the pinnacle of one’s career.

Although he concentrated his practice in rendering advice to the corporate houses and Executives, he ensured that they all complied with the laws so that unnecessary disputes between the employers and employees could be avoided. He also advised the trade union leaders and employees that they should always try to settle the issues amicably. He always used to say that agitations and strikes are harmful not only to the employers but also to the employees; they should never try to kill the hen that lays the eggs because a strike will result in the loss of production and ultimately it is not the employer, but employees will also bear the loss. He was courteous to the core and enjoyed a good reputation across the country. He was in his late eighties when he passed away. After the Covid-19 pandemic, he used to normally remain confined to his residence -cum-office. He was an Ajatshatru, a friend of all and foe of none. Soft-spoken and quite amiable with everybody, Kumar Saheb was always ready to help others in every possible manner. He was active till the fag-end of his life.

He used to narrate many stories about his younger days spent in the undivided India of Lahore, where he was born and had his initial education. The biggest thing that could be learnt from him was that he never believed in dogmatism and always encouraged others to nurse scientific temper to be away from such abracadabra. Although he was born into the family of a hotelier father and never faced economic hardships, he was never a spendthrift and mostly lived a life of simplicity. After partition, he moved over to India under the tutelage of his parents, who owned a hotel in Shimla. However, he did not opt to become a hotelier or a businessman but chose to pursue to become a lawyer, where he excelled by sheer dint of his hard work and single-mindedness of the purpose. For more than sixty years he was in the profession and must have trained innumerable lawyers.

Apart from being an accomplished advocate, and an excellent Samaritan, Kumar Saheb was an eminent writer. He must have authored more than fifty books. Apart from employment law, Kumar Saheb wrote a very handy book on the making of the ‘WILL’. The book is immensely useful for everybody who desires to make a ‘WILL’ in his/her privacy. He used to say that one must prepare the WILL because nothing is certain about life, and one must not leave any scope for litigation or dispute after his/her departure to the heavenly abode. He was the founder-editor of the prestigious Labour Law Reporter (LLR) for over half a century. The citations of the LLR are liberally quoted in the Supreme Court and different High Courts.

Kumar Saheb was a goldmine of information. Rules and laws were at his fingertips. Case laws were his forte as he was blessed with a remarkably sharp memory. He was a polyglot and could speak and even argue the cases in English and Hindi/ Urdu with equal ease. Punjabi was his mother tongue and was an avid reader of the Urdu newspaper Hind Samachar and Jagbani in Punjabi. He was requested by many people to write his memoirs but alas! The prolific writer of scores of books could not fulfil it, which could have been immensely useful for the millions of the posterity.

He was respected by the cross-section of society and was associated with several schools and professional colleges. He commanded loyalty and fidelity from the editors and journalists besides newspaper proprietors. He had narrated a story that a journalist, who used to claim to be associated with a journalists’ trade union body, was closer to the Management of the newspaper he worked for. He condemned his behaviour because he disguised and camouflaged himself as the trade union leader to gain the trust of employees, to help the cause of the management, and causing detriment to the employee’s union. Kumar Saheb had an uncanny sense of recognising such black sheep and always kept them at arm’s length.

Kumar Saheb always underlined the fact that Employers and their HR departments must be well conversant with labour laws and related rules. He emphasized that many times it is the ignorance of the HR Executives and Employers that put them in trouble, which could be easily avoided if they remain vigilant to their duties. and advise their HR managers to implement them properly for a harmonious and congenial atmosphere in the organisation. His golden advice to the employers was that they should not ride roughshod over employees. He was regularly sought after by umpteenth number of top-notch organisations. Many of his students became judges of the High Courts, even the Supreme Court and the presiding officers of various Tribunals.

His legacy is being carried on by his very able son, Advocate Gaurav Kumar (LL.M, MBA), who is spearheading H.L. Kumar & Associates – a boutique law firm specializing in employment laws and advising over 300+ clients. Sh. Gaurav Kumar has also written over 30 books on labour and industrial laws, has been successively awarded by the Chief Justice of India, various judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts alike, and Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice. The Supreme Court Bar Association has also honoured him as an author multiple times. He has been addressing the seminars organized by various Chambers and Associations of industrialists and establishments. Sh. Gaurav Kumar is also on the legal panel of regularly advising charitable institutions, schools and hospitals. He is being assisted by his son, Mr. Yajat Kumar, who is the Deputy Editor of the Labour Law Reporter and has penned numerous articles on employment and labour laws for various well known newspapers and forums.