Chandigarh: Senior advocate, activist and former leader of Aam Aadmi Party Harvinder Singh Phoolka is awarded the title of Padam Shri by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led Indian government.

“I am grateful to the President of India and government of India. I had no idea about this… This award is a recognition of the work for all those people who are working for justice, the downtrodden and to uphold the rule of law in the nation,” H S Phoolka reportedly told a news agency after the news broke out.

Awarded in the ‘Public Affairs – Punjab’ category, H S Phoolka announced to dedicate his award to those who work for the protection of human rights.