G E Chitty (QC) - 39th death anniversary:

Master of legal interpretation (and dog signs!)

Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar

The story of lawyers is the story of Hulftsdorp. Their foibles, no less than their forensic skill in the court room have contributed to the supremacy of the law.

George Edmund Chitty

Cynics say that the only good lawyers are the dead ones. Among the dead, now almost forgotten is George Edmund Chitty (QC) who died in 1974 at the age of 65 and his death anniversary was observed recently.

In life, he was at the top runs in the hall of fame. During a good part of his professional career, there was not one notable criminal case in which he had not appeared for one side or the other, at the Assizes or in the appellate court.

The Matara Police Station conspiracy case which continued for seven weeks at the Colombo Assizes, the Turf Club murder case, the case of Seder de Silva, who murdered his lovely young paramour and laid out the corpse with flowers and candles before calling in the Police, were all sensational trials in which Chitty played a major professional part.

Eminent prosecutors

Then, there was the first case to come up for hearing before the then new Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) – the case of the Sedawatte Triple Murder where the heads of the victims sleeping on the Verandah of Sedawatte Walauwa were crushed like egg-shells with the back of an axe wielded by a man who used to pole-axe cattle are among the others.

The Kularatne arsenic poisoning case the Pauline Cruz case, the Thenuwara case and the Kataragama beauty Queen Murder case were also those in which he defended the accused at trial or appeared for the appellant.

It was unique in the annals of Hulftsdorp that as a member of the Unofficial Bar, he was called upon to conduct and lead the team of frontline Crown Counsel, with the approval of the Attorney-General, the prosecution in the Prime Minister Bandaranaike assassination case in 1960, despite the Attorney-General's office having capable, eminent prosecutors. It was an unprecedented tribute to a great advocate.

George Chitty, son of a well-known lawyer, studied at Royal College, Colombo – ironically, he was later on the Board of Governors of Trinity College, Kandy - during the days of the principalship of H L Reed. He was a brilliant student there, winning many prizes, among them the Governor's prize for English.

He then joined the Law College in Colombo from where he passed the Advocate Final coming first and winning a prize. He devilled in the Chambers of H B Perera (QC) and after three years at the Unofficial Bar he became Crown Counsel and successfully prosecuted in a number of sensational cases.

Between 1942-1944 – second world war years, he was Crown Counsel in charge of Defence Regulations. Thereafter, he reverted to the Unofficial Bar. Further, he was a most flamboyant personality, always sprucely attired. He was somewhat corpulent in his later years, but continued to be very conscious of his personal appearance. In his early law literary days, he used to be known among his friends as ‘Powder Baby', for he always carried some Talcum powder with him to help him appear presentable in the sweltering heat of Colombo.

Further, Chitty accepted the Assize Judgeship, at great financial sacrifice and he however disliked the loneliness of a judge and resigned sometime afterwards. In his days as a senior and Queen's Counsel several advocates devilled in his chambers, among them Barnes (Later Justice) Ratwatte, Vernon Wijetunge (QC) and George Candappa (President's Counsel).

Chitty was once challenging the provisions of the then Rent Act No. 29 of 1948. One of the Judges who sat in the Appellate Court was known to have been the author of the Act when he was in the Legal Draftsman's Department. Chitty was criticizing the provisions concerning permitted increases and had developed the argument to a fine point.

Village damsels

“Chitty, how would you have drafted the section? Asked the Judge who drafted the Act. For this Chitty said, “My Lords, I am no draftsman. Draftsmanship is an art and I would not have strayed into the arena of a draftsman.

A critic of music may never have played a note. So also, a critic of Art. He may not have held a brush. And, so, I can criticize the drafting of an Act, but I may not be able to do the actual drafting”.

The Judge was largehearted. He said that his own enactment was defective and held with Chitty. The provisions of the Act had since been amended.

In another Appeal Chitty appeared for a school master who had been convicted of outraging the modesty of a 14-year-old schoolgirl. Chitty suggested that village damsels were more sophisticated than some might wish to believe and that there was no question of outrage of modesty in this case. The Judge said that the girl was only 14 and therefore Chitty's suggestion was unacceptable. Chitty said that while he would most respectfully bow to his Lordship's superior knowledge of the ways of village damsels, yet age by itself was not the most important considerations.

“Had we forgotten that Juliet had a torrid affair with Romeo at 12? There can be no hard and fast rules in the matter,” Chitty added. A moment's hush. Loud laughter from the Bench. And the judgement was set aside!

A judge who was in a hurry to finish a case asked Chitty, how long he would take to finish. He said “only so long as it is necessary to convince your Lordship of the truth of my client's defence."

On another occasion, a President of the Court of Appeal after several days of argument told Chitty, “we have gone on for a long time, but I do not understand your proposition. It seems too far-fetched. I apologize to your Lordship for my inability to convince you.

“I have turned this over a hundred times in my head and I cannot think of a more simple way of presenting my case. Perhaps, there is a gap in my head and I beg your Lordship's pardon, but let not my unfortunate client suffer the consequence of my inadequacy as an advocate.” After, further argument, the Judge was gracious enough to admit that the gap was in his own head and held with Chitty. In a case in which a man was accused of robbery, the robbers slippers were found at the scene of the crime.

Legal principles

The Police dogs led the Investigating Officers to the accused.

The man had been convicted on the evidence of the owner of the stolen property and that of the Police Officers who followed the dog.

Chitty, have you never heard that a man's best friend is his dog? And have you forgotten that a dog's intelligence is close to that of a man? Asked one of the Judges.

Mr Chitty, said “intelligence is relative, My Lord and some dogs are more intelligent than their masters! Nevertheless, the “Evidence Ordinance” does not deal with the interpretation of dog signs and only a dog could interpret those signs”, Wryly remarked Chitty. The Court of Appeal agreed and set aside the conviction.

Indeed, Chitty displayed brilliance and mastery over legal principles, using his phenomenal knowledge of men and matters to advantage and using his command of the English Language to lucidly and convincingly communicate his argument.

Chitty towered above all pettiness, unkindness, meanness, but he did not suffer fools gladly. It is said that he earned fabulously at the Bar. One of his rewarding hobbies apart from photography were music and art. Besides, he had a very healthy sense of humour. Undoubtedly, Chitty's command of the English Language, his polished diction and forensic ability are now only to be read or to be heard on tape.