Appreciation
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He
served the country and the downtrodden I came to know Nehru shortly after he joined the profession when he came to work in my chambers. He continued working with me until I joined the Bench. I was indeed privileged to have a remarkable band of juniors, all of whom have distinguished themselves in legal activities both in Sri Lanka and overseas. Nehru in his time became the senior member of this group and one to whom they all naturally turned for advice. Quite early in his days with me he was offered a position in the Attorney General's Department. However, he felt that life as a Crown official could impose restraints upon him in his desire for service to the wider public and he declined the offer. The appointment, if taken at the early stage, would surely have led him to the Chief Justiceship of Sri Lanka, a position held with distinction by his maternal uncle H.H. Basnayake. Nehru's father P.F.A. Goonetilleke was a distinguished member of the Kalutara Bar. Mr. Goonetilleke was an outstanding community leader in Kalutara, dedicated Buddhist worker and dayaka of the Kalutara Bodhi Trust. Nehru had a strong urge, like his father, to serve the public interest, and to dedicate himself to the service of Buddhism and to the national welfare and these were the paths his career took. Nehru was such a warm and affectionate person that he helped many people with his professional skills without any remuneration inspired by his desire to help those in distress. This was strongly manifested later when he devoted considerable segments of his time to the Vijayabahu Trust Fund inaugurated by the late Lt. General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and the late high priest of Tanthirimale, Ven. Kudakongaskada Wimalagama Thera. This fund undertook many projects for the advancement of the people in the area. He was an able guide to the Vijayabahu Trust in all its activities and was a tower of strength to the Ven. Kudakongaskada Wimalagama Thera in the work he was doing for people who were totally without support or protection. Many are those, once abandoned and in distress, who, thanks to the work of Nehru, now have a roof over their heads or a well to supply their basic needs or facilities for irrigation or a basic community service structure to help them where otherwise there would have been none. The danger involved in travelling to areas where law and order had broken down did not deter him and at one stage he would travel every week to Tanthirimale and Vavuniya despite his somewhat frail physical condition. I know of one occasion when a van in which he travelled to an unsettled area was riddled with bullets after having dropped him at his destination. This social service aspect was also evident in his work for many years as Governor of the YMBA, Trustee of Musaeus College, Colombo, Chairman of the Kalutara Bodhi Trust and many other Buddhist activities. One of the highest awards possible for a Buddhist layman, namely the "Sugatha Sasana Pajjothamanna" was also conferred on him in April 2000 in recognition of his many services to the public. On a personal note, Nehru was like a member of my family showering affection on my children, playing with them, taking them out for drives and excursions and adding greatly to their happiness in their formative years. Even after I became a judge, Nehru continued his strong friendship with all the members of my family, taking a great interest in all of them and their studies. During his years of work with me he proved himself an excellent student of the law, analytical and critical in his approach and researching with great thoroughness whatever briefs were entrusted to him. He often accompanied me to court and soon acquired a mastery of the rules of civil procedure and evidence. He also assisted me considerably in my work on the Law of Contracts. On my appointment to the Bench; Nehru was already a well-accomplished lawyer, quite able to take on the most arduous work on his own, and he set up independently as an advocate attracting a considerable volume of work in his own right. He progressed rapidly in the profession and soon came to be known as one of the most talented and dependable members of the Bar. Seven years later when I decided to move to Australia, we still kept up the close contact we had enjoyed over the past many years and whenever there was any matter which needed attention in Sri Lanka it was to Nehru I would turn, and he attended to the matter with great diligence and efficiency. Many years later when I stood for election as a Judge of the International Court of Justice, Nehru came to New York to help me in my campaign and was of invaluable assistance to Daya Perera, our United Nations Ambassador and to myself. All of this shows how steadfast he was in his loyalties and how far he was prepared to go in his assistance to his friends. In recent years, he assisted me considerably in setting up the Centre for Peace Education and Research. Nehru was a person much dedicated to the national interest of Sri Lanka and to the cause of national unity on which he made numerous addresses to overseas Sri Lankan organizations in Britain, the United States, Australia and elsewhere. He was also deeply concerned with every aspect of the Rule of Law and the integrity of the judiciary and was a joint President of the Association for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Preservation of the Rule of Law which issued a statement on March 8, a few days before his death, on the importance of the observance of the Rule of Law at the forthcoming elections. Service to Buddhism, devotion to the Dhamma, loyalty to Sri Lanka, the integrity of the legal profession and the judiciary, assistance to the distressed - these were among the imperatives which combined with his high legal skills and passion for justice to make his life one of outstanding service to Sri Lanka and its people. Nehru typified remarkable thoroughness of legal scholarship, dedication to the ideals and ethical standard of the Bar and sensitivity to the needs of the public whom the Bar must serve. At a personal level, qualities of sincerity, loyalty, helpfulness and integrity combined with cheerfulness, humour and warmth of personality made him a truly outstanding friend and companion. Sri
Lanka has lost an outstanding lawyer and citizen, the Bar one of
its leading members, his numerous beneficiaries one of their fearless
patrons and the many who were privileged to know him an irreplaceable
guide, philosopher and friend.
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