Remembering seven outstanding personalities

Sarath Malalasekera

‘We remember with affection and pay homage to the following outstanding gentlemen, who have contributed immensely and have left an indelible mark in our legal system. These great gentlemen were all commanding personalities, in their chosen field and won the respect of the Bar, said Attorney General, President’s Counsel Mohan Pieris at a ceremonial sitting held at the Supreme Court Complex recently.

The seven late President’s Counsel were H L de Silva, Desmond Fernando, Tyronne Fernando, A L M Hashim, M Kanagasunderam, A K Premadasa and A A M Marleen.

President’s Counsel Herman Leonard (H L) de Silva after a brilliant career at St. Peter’s College, Colombo entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Ceylon and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1951. In 1953 he was admitted to the Bar and after brief stint at the unofficial Bar he joined the Attorney General’s Department in 1955.

Among Hulftsdorp’s ‘great’ HL as he was best known among friends and colleagues honed his legal skills in the Attorney General’s Department to which he was invited by then Solicitor General TS Fernando at the behest of Justice Noel Gratiaen.

As Crown Counsel he was mainly concerned with the civil side and especially with matters relating to Constitutional and Administrative law.

In 1970 he retired as Crown Counsel and rejoined the Unofficial Bar where he became the acknowledged leader of the Bar and was persuaded to come forward as President of the Bar Association, where he got the opportunity to meet many outstation lawyers to whom he was only a name if not a legend.

He was also the former Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. HL de Silva had more than a fine legal brain and an unimpeachable integrity.

His commitment to an undivided and united Sri Lanka was absolute and this was something he would never compromise on.

President’s Counsel Desmond Fernando was educated at the University of ceylon and Oxford University. After his University career, he was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1958 and became an Advocate in the same year.

He was the first Secretary of Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) in 1974, twice President of the BASL and the only Sri Lankan and second Asian to hold prestigious post of the President of the International Bar Association (IBA).

He worked hard to ensure the independence of the Bar.

President’s Counsel Tyronne Fernando was educated at Oxford University where he was the first Asian to be elected as Chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club. He was a Barrister-at-Law of Gray’s Inn.

After a brief stint as a Criminal Lawyer in the unofficial Bar he served the Attorney General’s Department as Crown Counsel.

He entered active politics in 1973 and was elected to Parliament in 1977 representing the Moratuwa constituency.

Tyronne Fernando was a renowned politician, a former Foreign Minister and the former Governor of the North-East Province. From 1991 to 1994 he was the President of the Sri Lanka Cricket and did great service towards development of the Sport.

President’s Counsel A L M Hashim after his education at Zahira College, Colombo, graduated from the University of London, in 1949 with a Bachelor of Laws Degree.

He was enroled as a Barrister in January 1951 and as an Advocate in the same year. He mainly practiced in Kegalle until the time of his demise and held the distinction of being the first Barrister from the Kegalle District. He was also one time President of the Kegalle Bar.

Hashim functioned as a member of many statutory boards and was also a member of the delimitation commission. He also held the honour of being appointed as the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

He was conferred the dignity of Silk in 1991 and thus became the first to be appointed President’s Counsel from the Kegalle Bar.

President’s Counsel Mahesvaran Kangasundaram who had his early education at Royal College, Colombo was enroled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1950. He thereafter joined the Attorney General’s Department in 1953 as Acting Crown Counsel and rose to be Senior Crown Counsel. He was called to the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn in 1962. After almost one half decades service to the State he joined the Unofficial bar and had a wide and varied practice in the District Courts. He also worked in the Chambers of Queen’s Counsel Neville Samarakoon who was later to be Chief Justice.

He was conferred the dignity of Silk in 1988.

President’s Counsel A K Premadasa a dominant figure at Hulftsdorp for decades was an epoch making lawyer and teacher to many lawyers.

He started his legal career in 1949 at the then Court of Requests. He functioned as ANCL Chairman was from 1973 to 1977 and Press Council Chairman in 1973.

He was appointed Chairman of the State Mortgage and Investment Bank in 1994 and again as Chairman of ANCL for a brief period in 1995.

He devoted most of his 59 years as a lawyer to develop the law of landlord and tenant in Sri Lanka. He had been the leading authority on the subject for the last few decades. His views were sought when late Pieter Kueneman enacted the Rent Act of 1972 and when it was amended subsequently.

President’s Counsel A A M Marleen was educated at Zahira College, Colombo. He thereafter entered the Sri Lanka Law College and was enroled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court.

He was an active social worker, who strove tirelessly to uplift the living conditions and educational standards of the poorer sections of the Muslim community in the country. He held office as President and Secretary General of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Association of Sri Lanka.

In 1988, he chaired the United Nations Special Committee to investigate into “Israeli practices affecting human rights in the occupied territories.” He was conferred the dignity of Silk in 2001. He has also officiated as the Chairman of Board of Management of Zahira College, Colombo. He also founded the Sri Lanka-Saudi Arabia Friendship Society and at the time of demise he was the Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia.

The Attorney General concluded his speech stating- that these great men attained their glory by surrendering themselves in complete submission to the will of the spirit, employing no reluctance or resistance to its demands, as a violin surrenders itself to the complete will of a fine musician. Between the spiritual world and the world of substance there is a path upon which we walk in a swoon of slumber.

It reaches us and we are unaware of its strength, and when we return to ourselves we find that we are carrying with our real hands the seeds to be planted are fully in the good earth of our daily lives, bringing forth good deeds and words of beauty. Were it not for that path between our lives and the departed lives, no prophet or poet or learned man would have appeared among the people. We are thankful for their lives. “Ourselves that the supreme irony of creation is that all of us have to pass away inevitably.

It is only thereafter apt that we appreciate the nature of life itself, which has been appropriately captured by one of the greatest poets and philosopher Khalil Gibran when he said “You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life.”