Harpreet Singh Giani is an Indian-born lawyer based in London, England.

Biography

Harpreet Singh Giani was born in India into a Punjabi

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family. He is the son of the lawyer Harinder Singh Giani from

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

and the grandson of the

scholar and calligraphist,

Pratap Singh Giani Pratap Singh Giani (also Partap Singh Gyani, 1855–1920) was a Sikh academician, scholar and calligraphist. He was born in 1855, the son of Bhai Bhag Singh Giani of Lahore (Gurmukhi: ਭਾਈ ਭਾਗ ਸਿੰਘ ਲਾਹੌਰ). A ...

. Giani completed his initial education from the DAV College, Chandigarh. He then obtained a Bachelor's degree in Law from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both Punjab, India, State and Government of India, Union governments, it is considered a state university (Indi ...

, and was admitted to the bar in 1999. After practicing for a few years, he chose to pursue further studies and earned a Master of Business Laws degree from the

National Law School of India University The National Law School of India University (NLSIU or simply NLS) is a public law school and a National Law University located in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was the first National Law University to be established in India as well as one of the f ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

(2004). He then took up Master of Laws (International Law) from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(2006). Immediately after taking the latter degree, he was called to the bar of England and Wales in 2006 at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. In India, he is in independent practice in

and in England & Wales, he practices from Libertas Chambers. Giani is also an alumnus of the

Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law (french: Académie de droit international de La Haye) is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taugh ...

(2003) and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences, Siracusa, Italy (2008) where he studied Shariat (Islamic) law. On 5 December 2014 Giani was admitted into the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

Giani is the author of ''The Blood Bankers' Legal Handbook'' (2003).

Controversy

The

Liberhan Commission The Liberhan Commission (officially Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry) was a long-running inquiry commissioned by the Government of India to investigate the destruction of the disputed structure Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. Led by reti ...

was appointed by the Government of India in December 1992 to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the demolition of the

Babri Masjid Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...

earlier the same month. Six years after the commission was formed, Giani accepted the responsibility of serving as the Commission's Counsel. He joined the Commission in 1998, after the previous Counsel had resigned. Giani worked on the final report which was handed over to the Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

and Home Minister

P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee ...

by Justice Liberhan and Giani. A further 11 years later, on 30 June 2009. Giani remained the Commission's Counsel for over a year and a half, till the Commission was wound up with the submission of the report. In the parliamentary debate in the lower house of the Indian Parliament, Members of Parliament Pinaki Mishra and

Sushma Swaraj Sushma Swaraj () (''née'' Sharma; 14 February 1952 – 6 August 2019) was an Indian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. She is only ...

stated that they believed that the report had in fact been written by Giani rather than Chief Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan. In the upper house of parliament, Member of Parliament

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...

similarly claimed BJP Website -
/ref> that

References

External links

Harpreet Singh Giani joins 33 Chancery Lane

Professional bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giani, Harpreet Singh Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of Gray's Inn Panjab University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics 20th-century British lawyers British people of Punjabi descent