Harbans Lal was born in Mirpur, India, on 28 September 1911, the first son of Balmukand Lal, a business man, and his wife, Ramkhatri. He was educated in local schools and proceeded to the King Edward Medical College, Lahore, where he qualified in 1935, coming first in the class in both the second professional and the third professional examinations. During his training he was awarded Punjab Government merit scholarships in 1933 and 1934. His surgical training was in Lahore but he spent a short time in England when he was influenced by Professor George Grey Turner at the Hammersmith Hospital. He passed the FRCS in 1940. Returning to India he worked as a surgical specialist to the Kashmir Government and was then appointed surgeon to the Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur and senior lecturer in surgery to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College, Jamshedpur. In 1955 he developed paraplegia as a result of an intramedullary haemangioma of the spinal cord. He came to London and was operated on at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square and then had radiotherapy treatment at Mount Vernon Hospital. From that time on he was confined to a wheelchair but nevertheless continued clinical practice in the outpatient department at Tata Main Hospital as well as continuing his teaching. After retirement in 1972 he still carried on consultative surgical practice at Jamshedpur. His extracurricular activities were reading, gardening and music. In 1944 he married Mira Suri and there were three children of the marriage. He died peacefully in his sleep on 4 March 1983, being survived by his wife, Mira, their two daughters and their son, who is a doctor.