Nineteenth death anniversary:

Justice Rajaratnam great orator and Parliamentarian

Chelvatamby MANICCAVASAGAR

The 19th death anniversary of former Supreme Court Judge and SLFP Member of Parliament late Justice T W Rajaratnam was commemorated on January 15, 2013.

A retired Chief Justice of India once said that “there is a common chord which binds all of us, Lawyers, Judges and Jurists together, wherever, in which ever part of South Asia they may be living, whichever the Forum where they are practising and which ever be the Court in which they are dispensing Justice and that common chord that we are all moved, animated and inspired by, is the great and noble ideal namely the pursuit of Justice.”

Further, “a great Judge must be a man with a spark of greatness to start with, his job is the applied practice of wisdom and justice and these may not be borrowed from any of the calf-bound books, but must spring from the man himself.” The secret of Rajaratnam’s success as a very good judge was that he always believed in humanism and love for human lives. He believed in kindness and as far as possible not to be hurtful to anyone. He was always of the opinion there is no other God than truth and the oneness of the spirit.

As a Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Rajaratnam always preserved the dignity of the Courts and the image of Justice. Besides, he possessed in full measure, the learning, ability, the quickness of thought and the capacity for hard work which enabled him to attain eminence as a criminal lawyer and later Supreme Court Judge.

Legal career

Justice Rajaratnam’s legal career was a continuation of the traditions of a family of leading Jaffna and Colombo lawyers. After completing his secondary education at Trinity College, Kandy, he obtained a degree in Western Classics and Law from the University of London. He was called to the Bar in August 1948. He rapidly built a nation-wide Criminal and Labour Law practice in Sri Lanka. His forte and favoured aspect of the Law was Criminal Law. One of his primary concerns was the need for the law to be simple and accessible to the ordinary citizen.

He was appointed as Commissioner of Assize in 1970 and Judge of the Supreme Court in 1972. He continued in that capacity until 1978. His judicial career was characterised by incisive legal judgements and an independent and uncompromising spirit. Further, his career was unceremonially interrupted by the re-constitution of the Supreme Court in 1978. Justice Rajaratnam was a man of luminous intelligence and mighty intellect with an amazing capacity to pierce through a problem to its core. He was a skillful debater, a sound political analyst, a relentless critic of the abuse of power and corruption and was ruthless in the exposure of hypocrisy.

Matchless orator

He had a powerful memory and was a matchless orator, a spell binder par excellence. His speeches in Parliament as an SLFP Member were thoughtful. From his lips flowed the English language without a break or a drop, each syllable in its exact place and order, each sentence following a cadence of its own, so inevitably that one could follow its rise and its fall like the movement of foaming billow on a calm sea.

When the Founder Leader of the MEP, late Philip Gunawardena, on the floor of the House once blasted Hulftsdorp as the last bastian and citadel of all vested interests, he perhaps didn’t image that Hulftsdorp would mould an indomitable character of the calibre of the late T W Rajaratnam.

He was a man who not only championed the cause of human justice and fought for human rights, but above all stood for the Rule of Law. His socialist outlook, being a rationalist and a Theosophist had an immense influence not only in Sri Lanka but also abroad. He was a much sought after speaker on Human Rights at local and international seminars.

His eloquence, wit, satire and humour were laurels for him and kept his audience spell-bound, not only on account of his oratory, but also because of the philosophic and theosophic substance of what he spoke.

It was this versatility that made the Government of Pakistan invite him to an international seminar of legal luminaries on the subject of the legality of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s case. He was one of the few international jurors who had made an in-depth study of the trial.

His research blossomed into a publication (288 pages) entitled:- A Judiciary in Crisis (The Trial of Bhutto).

Justice Rajaratnam was an extrovert and his motives always remained altruistic – be it on national or international issues, in the political arena, economics or justice. Though born a Christian, he could quote off-hand, the Hindu Vedas, the Tripitaka and the Koran. He believed in the Buddhist and Hindu philosophy of cause and effect, ‘Karma’.

Justice Rajaratnam was conferred with the Civil Award ‘Hilal-Iz-Quaid Azam’ for his meritorious services to Pakistan as well as his invaluable contributions in championing the rights of individuals in Third World Countries. This is a High Civil Award in Pakistan and conferred only upon eminent persons who have distinguished themselves by rendering exceptional services in their respective fields.

Legal and political history

Dinesh Gunawardena once said that late Justice Rajaratnam was an intellectual who had a sharp legal brain and the contribution he made to the Labour Tribunal was invaluable.

Former Minister Kingsley T Wickremaratne said that Justice Rajaratnam always believed in neutrality and followed the precepts of Mahatma Gandhi. He further said that there was poetry in his language and he spoke from his heart.

He always believed in a global village where all people would live in peace and harmony, where race, caste and creed would be immaterial.

Former State Minister of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs P P Devaraj once said that late Justice Rajaratnam was a Champion of the causes of the under-privileged. As a Supreme Court Judge, he was regarded as an unconventional judge. He changed the balance of power in favour of the under-privileged.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said Justice Rajaratnam was a widely read man with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He always stood for unity among all communities. Indeed late Justice Rajaratnam’s polished manner and sartorial elegance, intellectual refinement and boldness of thought will assure him of a permanent place in the legal and political history of Sri Lanka.