Historic Ruling by Speaker Anura Bandaranaike on June 20, 2001

By Nihal Seneviratne

Anura Bandaranaike was elected Speaker of Parliament in 2001 following my retirement as Secretary General. Soon after I received two messages from him conveyed by a mutual close friend that I come to work for him as his Advisor. I told the friend that I regret very much that I cannot undertake this position for having myself closely associated with Parliament for over 30 years, it would be incorrect and unethical for me to return to Parliament and work in that capacity.

A few days later I received three calls from Mr Bandaranaike himself insisting that I come to work for him and as he himself insisted, I found it extremely difficult to refuse him as I had become over the years a close friend of his. Since there was no position in the cadre of Parliament for an Advisor to the Speaker, he arranged with his mother, the Prime Minister Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike to have a Cabinet paper presented to create the position. After this was agreed to, he insisted that I start working with him which I did.

I told him I was a complete teetotaler and that I had been informally told by his personal physician, Dr H.H.R. Samarasinghe that since his health condition was not good, he stays away from alcoholic beverages as long as I worked with him and he readily agreed.

So many were the occasions he invited me to his every elegant apartment at Rosmead Place, designed by Geoffrey Bawa, to have lunch with him. He was the perfect raconteur and we avidly spoke of his knowledge of films, art, sculpture and architecture, which I enjoyed very much.

It was then that I sought his permission to go to Singapore with my family for 10 days which he readily agreed to. When in Singapore I was contacted by our High Commissioner there that the Speaker had insisted that I return to Sri Lanka immediately. Since this seemed to be an urgent request, I cut short my stay and returned home.

The very next day I called on him and he said he was facing a huge problem that a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court had issued a Stay Order restraining him from appointing a Select Committee to inquire into the conduct of the Chief Justice consequent to the Motion of Impeachment against the Chief Justice.

He was very concerned and worried and asked me to get an appointment with his close friend and eminent lawyer, Mr. H.L de Silva. Having got this almost overnight, both he and I proceeded to Mr. de Silva’s house and we had a four-hour discussion with him. He said he would study the matter closely and give his opinion on the matter which he did in a week.

Both the Speaker and I spent the next few days discussing the pros and cons and how we should act in this matter. By this time I had done the spadework in our Parliament and collected all the rulings given by Speakers both in Sri Lanka and the UK and studied very closely the Standing Orders of Parliament, the Power and Privileges Act of 1953, the authorities set out in Erskine May which we regard as the auotoritative pronouncement on parliamentary practice and the note provided by Mr. H.L. de Silva which we found most useful. Having together studied all these authorities and had numerous discussions over the next few days, he wanted me to prepare a draft ruling which I did.

Over the next few days, we discussed the draft and accordingly he made some significant changes. After much deliberation and thought and discussion, we prepared the final ruling which he read to the House on June 20, 2001.

This ruling was widely accepted by the House, both by the Government and Opposition Members and Members from both sides widely acclaimed his ruling and congratulated him in person. Mr. Bandaranaike was very happy that his ruling was so widely accepted that he wanted me to get it printed which I did with an attractive portrait of him in ceremonial attire on the front page which he wanted me to send it to different Parliaments both in the Commonwealth and outside.

Today this Ruling has come to be accepted in Sri Lanka very much and has a very special position as a landmark judgment.

I was personally gratified by his act of autographing a printed copy inscribed with the handwritten words: “Dear Nihal, if not for you, this piece of history would not have been possible. Much affection. Signed by him – Anura, 25.6. 2001. To this day, I treasure that copy.

(The writer served as Advisor to the Speaker during Mr. Anura Bandaranaike’s service in that office)