Down Memory Lane with H.L. de Silva

Loyal to truth and justice

By Roshan Peiris

Herman Leonard de Silva's eyes twinkle with good humour as he relates anecdotes from his early years.

One of the most respected lawyers in this country, he had his schooling at Newstead, Negombo, a mixed school run by Methodist Missionaries. "I was shy and not disposed towards teasing the girls who were in the majority. In fact boys were tolerated only upto Standard Five. I went to Newstead because my home was ten miles from the school near Minuwangoda. My father was an executive working at Hayleys and my mother was a trained teacher."

Newstead, he says, one of the oldest schools in the country being 130 years old, had a profound influence on my life and personality in those formative years from seven to eleven. "By the time I left I was generally disciplined and not inclined to violate school rules."

As a youngster he played cricket on the beach near the Negombo Resthouse, a lovely beach with catamarans beached there.

"We ate a lot of prawns, crabs and fish and I loved savouries especially patties".

The growing boy was interested in world affairs, especially from 1938 to 1939 when Mussolini and Fascism and Hitler and Nazism were starting their war-like gestures and utterances. "I was about eleven or twelve but I assiduously read the newspapers on world affairs."

Considered the most erudite man today, H.L. however says he was no outstanding student though he did top the class often. "Nor was I an outstanding sportsman. I went to several schools and the last was St. Peter's College, from where I entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Ceylon in Peradeniya in 1948 which had just been established. Frances Soertsz was our professor and Sir Ivor Jennings taught us Constitutional Law in which he was an expert. No, said H.L. laughing, he did not have a girl friend at the faculty for he did not come across a girl who interested him at the time.

"At Law College in 1952, I made friends with Felix Dias Bandaranaike, John de Saram and Rex de Saram, my colleagues. In 1953 I passed out and was admitted to the Bar. I was a lonely soul, for I had no legal connections whatsoever to help get started.

"I had two lean years. Later there were seniors, D.S. Jayawickrema Q.C. and H.W.Tambiah in whose chambers I worked and Kingsley Herath encouraged me.

"I admired and hoped to be like H.V. Perera and so I used to sit in Court watching him conduct a case and listening to his responses to questions from the Bench. He had a distinctive style."

This able lawyer had the humility to laugh at himself and say "my first case was a disaster because the accused was sentenced to death. It was an assigned case from the State and all whom I sought advice from told me that it was a 'Black Case'," because evidence against the accused who had killed his neighbour was so damning. "After two days the accused was sentenced to death and I felt bemused listening to relatives, family and friends crying and howling."

Today H.L. chooses his cases and and gets astronomical fees. "Then I earned Rs. 31.50 on the first day of this case and thereafter for the next two days only ten rupees and fifty cents." It did one thing for H.L. though. "I decided that criminal law was not for me and hence took to civil law.

"I came to be recognised as an up and coming lawyer quite by accident," he reminisced. "I was entrusted with a small appeal case by Felix Dias who had been retained but had to attend a trial in Kurunegala.

"I was pitted against no less a person than H.W. Jayewardene and the case came up before Justices Noel Gratiaen and E.H.T. Gunesekera. As I addressed Court for the Appellant I seemed to be making headway and receiving a positive response. Next H.W., counsel for the Respondent was called upon to reply. Soon we adjourned for lunch and the instructing Proctor H.A Abeywardene came up to me (he had been sitting in Court while I was arguing and it was he who had entrusted Felix with the case) and encouraged me by saying that I was arguing very well and doing a good job. Judgement was reserved, but from the way the argument proceeded I knew I would succeed. The Appellant whom I represented won the case.

"Shortly afterwards, Justice Gratiaen sent his private secretary to say that he would be my referee were I interested in joining the Attorney General's Department. During our the time it was the ambition of young lawyers to join the Attorney General's Department, where then there were only twenty members. Now there are 100 members in the Department."

H.L. sent his application and was interviewed by T.S. Fernando, the then Attorney General. He worked there for fifteen long years.

"It was here that I really learnt my law and how to apply it, because I had the opportunity of being pitted against experienced senior lawyers. Soon after I was sent to Stanford University to study Comparative Constitutional Law."

Meanwhile he met Manel at the Savoy Theatre having come to watch the famous film Bridge Over the River Kwai and they were introduced by mutual friends.

He did shyly admit that it was love at first sight for both. They married at St. Michael's, Polwatte, the service being conducted by the first Sri Lankan Bishop, Harold de Soysa. Manel too accompanied her young bridegroomto Stanford.

H.L left the A.G's Department in 1970 and began practising on his own. "I was lucky I had a lot of court cases from the original courts as well as Appeal Courts" he said.

He spoke of his first case which he said was a divorce case where coincidentally the husband's name was Leonard and the wife for, whom he appeared for was Manel. He won the case for the wife. Also there was an amicable settlement with no throwbacks.

After six years, he said, "I gave up trial work because I had too many cases in the Appeal Court."

He recalled that at the unofficial Bar "I had many interesting cases and many of them had a political flavour. I appeared for many persons who were well-known people accused of exchange Control violations. The Criminal Justice Commission gave draconian punishments."

He said, "I appeared for S. Nadesan Q.C in a case of breach of privilege of Parliament in connection with certain articles he wrote to a newspaper criticising Parliament.

"A foreign observer also came to listen to the case in which Suriya Wickremesinghe appeared with me. We won the case."

He has accompanied many well-known people when they handed in their nomination papers, as he did last Tuesday accompanying President Chandrika for the second time. He appeared for Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the Special Presidential Commission at the end of which she lost her civic rights.

Kindly and soft spoken, H.L. warned, "In Court I am a different personality. In Court you cannot be mild and soft. Then you get swamped by your opponent or bullied by the Judge, so you have to show a certain degree of aggressiveness. One has to be astute and perhaps cunning as well in order to be a successful lawyer. This is my recipe for being a good lawyer."

H.L. exudes a mellow wisdom along with unswerving loyalty to truth and justice. What strikes me most is that despite being at the top of his profession his senseof fairplay and humility surface frequently.

The Willie I knew

When Willie Silva joined 'The Sunday Times' about five years ago I still had to know him. A lanky, sage-like figure, greying at the top but with a personality that bespoke seriousness, he sat quietly working by himself. I was told that he had come to our newspaper from Lake House from where he had retired after a 50-year stint as a Sub-editor and later as Chief Sub-editor, Features Editor and Deputy Editor in the group.

With his passing away in London, as he was alighting from the plane at the Heathrow Airport in transit on his return from Canada after visiting his niece and family there, his work came to a close. Willie I am sure is on his onward journey in the spiritual world of Sansara where even a greater fulfilment awaits him.

Willie was not difficult to get to know. With his genial, unassuming ways he soon got close to his colleagues in 'The Sunday Times' sub-editors' section who were attracted to him. An office helper, Kuruwita, an old-stager at the newspaper himself, says of Willie that in all his five years at the office he never had an unkind word for his subordinates, he never spoke down to them and never gave a harsh or peremptory order. Politeness was all with Willie and polite he was to all.

A quiet conversationlist, Willie had an impish sense of humour too which surfaced from time to time. But his manner or his conversation never degenerated to the banal, the inane or the malicious although he might have been compassionate and tolerant of the peccadilloes of those around him as became his manner. He had a fund of reminiscences from his journalistic days at Lake House where his associates included a galaxy of some of the best journalists today as well as during the most reputable phase of that institution.

It did not take long for Willie to prove his worth at 'The Sunday Times' and he was soon placed in charge of the editorial work connected with the 'Business' Desk of the newspaper. One might say of Willie using business parlance that he added value both to his work at the office and to life as a whole. His life was a rich one and a blessed one too.

All of us here no doubt miss him now and so would all who knew him during his long and irreproachable journalistic career. That indeed is the greatest consolation that can be offered to his wife, son and daughter and the rest of his family who live on in the world after him. - HPS

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