How Ceylon got her Independence Constitution

By Nihal Seneviratne

The British Government having perused and studied the political systems in place after the establishment of the Donoughmore Constitution which established two State Councils – from 1931 to 1936, and 1936 to 1939 and its weaknesses, decided to send Lord Soulbury, J.F Rees and S.J. Burrows to Ceylon to study the political situation of the day and recommend reforms. By this time, both in Ceylon and India, there were very strong national movements which were demanding a greater say for the people and even asking for Independence for the country rather than remaining a Crown Colony.

In India the Independence Movement was headed by stalwarts such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and in Ceylon the names of D.S. Senanayake, Sir Baron Jayatilaka, Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Ponnambalam Ramanathan and E.W. Perera stand out. Very soon, under a Labour Government headed by Clement Attlee, Ceylon received Independence from the British on February 4, 1948, and became an Independent Colony.

After receiving Independence, Ceylon was ready for a new Constitution. It was just after the Second World War (1939 -1945) and when the British Government was asked to frame a new Constitution for Ceylon, the Colonial Office in Britain said they were just then not ready to undertake such drafting and that they lacked the expertise to do so soon after the war. So they requested that it be done by Ceylon itself.

They asked Prime Minister D.S Senanayake to undertake the task which he agreed to do. The Legal Draftsman’s Department in Ceylon had a few Britishers viz – Drayton and Nihill. They conveniently passed the onerous task to the Ceylonese like Villavarayan, H.N.G. Fernando, Namasivayam, Mahadeva and B.P. Peiris. Sir Ivor Jennings who was then in Ceylon was asked to prepare the Members’ Draft. The report of the Soulbury Commission White Paper which embodied the decision of the UK Government was the base document.

The draft prepared by the local team headed by B.P. Peiris was approved by Drayton and Nihill and was submitted to D.S. Senanayake. It is believed that D.S. had told Peiris that he was going to ask the CID to have an eye on the drafters so that the work would be a top secret and that Peiris would be hanged if any material leaked out. The Ceylon Constitution Order-in-Council was thereafter approved by His Majesty and was gazetted.

The Judicial Service Commision and the Public Services Commission was included in the new Constitution. The following Motion was moved in Parliament after that. “This House rejoices that after many years of subjection and foreign rule, the struggle of the people of Ceylon for freedom has culminated in the attainment of Independence.” The first Parliament was declared open by the Duke of Gloucester on February 4, 1948.

The Soulbury Constitution had included two very important features. The first was Section 29 (2) which prevented any Bill, Resolution or Report which conferred any special advantage to any minority, racial or otherwise to become law – conferring any special concession or advantage to any racial or religious group.

The other notable clause was the appointment of the Public Services Commission which gave that body the powers to recruit and appoint all those in the higher ranks of the Public Services which in effect meant that the Cabinet of Ministers would not have the right to choose people of their choice. Very sadly, these two provisions found no place in the 1972 Constitution.

The standing orders of Parliament were drafted by B.P. Peiris with the help of Sir Edward Fellowes, who later became Clerk of the British House of Commons and Ralph Deraniyagala, the Clerk of the Sri Lanka House of Representatives. The new Cabinet was established with the promulgation of the new Constitution.

Henry Monck Mason Moore, the new Governor General, called on D.S. Senanayake to form the first Cabinet. It included S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, George E. de Silva, Sir John Kotelawala, J.R. Jayewardene, L.A. Rajapakse, R.S.S. Goonewardena, Dudley Senanayake, C. Suntheralingam, T.B. Jayah, E.A. Nugawela, A. Ratnayake, and C. Sittampalam. They held their first meeting on October 8, 1947.

Though Independence was granted, no Dominion status was conferred.

The Ceylon Independence Act was passed by the UK Parliament to remove the limitation to self-government in Ceylon. The External Affairs Agreement, the Defence Agreement and the Public Affairs Agreement were signed on November 11, 1947 by the Governor General and the Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake.

Parliament was to consist of two Houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House was to consist of 101 Members, 95 members elected and 6 nominated by the Governor General in consultation with the Prime Minister.

The Delimitation Commssion of 1976 increased the strength of the House to 168 and later increased it to 225, the present strength.I have often heard people saying the Soulbury Constitution was the best that Ceylon has ever had. A strong comment. Let’s see if this stands the test of time.

(The writer is a retired Secretary General of Parliament)