Chitta Ranjan De Silva, fondly known as ‘Bulla’ in the legal fraternity, who chaired the Government’s Reconciliation Commission passed away following an illness this morning.
C.R. De Silva
C.R. De Silva served as Solicitor General and then Attorney General of Sri Lanka.
He was appointed to chair the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010, and delivered a strong report and progressive recommendations, despite fears the Commission would toe the Government line on alleged rights abuses during the war.
Earlier this year when the Government moved to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, the President urged De Silva to accept the position as CJ 44. De Silva repeatedly rejected the offer.
Mohan Pieris who is also a former AG was the choice of Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, while ‘Bulla’ was the President’s preferred choice, Colombo Telegraph learns.
Hameed / November 7, 2013
I am shocked. I have known him since his rugby days. He was a perfect gentleman whilst playing the game. We have lost a good man.My deepest sympathies to his family.
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Dharma Diyasena / November 7, 2013
It is a shcok to learn former AG passed away. He was a perfect gentleman. Last Honerable Attorney General.Our deepest sympathies to his family. We are sorry that we are unable to pay our last respect to him as at present we are away from the country.
Wimal and Dharma Diyasena
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RajasH / November 7, 2013
The LLRC was buried long ago..
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anton / November 7, 2013
As captain of the champion Royal rugby team of 1968 Bulla clearly displayed that he had an abundance of character, determination, and leadership ability .Later on in his professional career it became evident that he was a man of great integrity and principles. A sad loss for the nation .
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Chinthaka / November 8, 2013
Of course he was far better than the present De Fact Illegal CJ.
I remember how he resigned as AG when his tenure was challenged in the Supreme Court. He did not want a conflict between the judiciary and the executive. He could have easily won but he did not want to risk the integrity of the institution.
He was a friend of Mahinda maama from their Law college days. So it is unfair to say that he was close to the regime. He was only close to mahinda.
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hearth / November 7, 2013
This gentleman is 100,000 times better than the present CJ. Good people cant live long. Bad guys like present CJ, Mervin etc will live long..long time for our sins.
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Anura / November 7, 2013
Did the pressure after releasing LLRC made him live under pressure and that has any influence to his early retirement from human life?. He must be around 65..
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shankar / November 7, 2013
Actually it was the sorrow of having his beloved LLRC thrown into the rubbish bin that made him leave this world.He was a broken man indeed.
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Vidura / November 7, 2013
May he rest in peace.
Hope in his last days he had time to reflect on his unstinted support to the regime – particularly defending it resolutely at the UN when Karuna was conscripting children to fight LTTE with active support by Sri Lankan Army. He lied through the whole episode – saying zero tolerance and denying the horrendous act even as it was taking place (along with Rajiva Wijeshinghe)
Hope he gets to meet some of those children who were forced to fight alongside TMVP and Sri Lankan army against LTTE in the East, on the other side.
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gamini / November 7, 2013
If anyone who has sided with the MR govt. cannot be considered as Honest or Decent. This is the bottom line.
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Palayang yako! / November 8, 2013
gamini:
You seem to be one of the few people who remember this man’s absolutely reprehensible conduct in derailing one of Sri Lanka’s famous “Commissions of Inquiry” where, at his ‘Guru’s’ direction he disrupted the proceedings up to the point where every one of the Eminent Persons, all internationally-respected jurists, resigned and left Sri Lanka.
“Decent man dying of a broken heart brought on by his beloved LLRC report going into the dustbin” my foot!!
Yet another fraud gone to God knows where!
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Reality Test / November 7, 2013
He kiiled the justice in SriLanka. He was poltically motivated man. He did not have any policies. He was perverting course of justice wirh support of this government. He may written LLRC and it is thrown into dust bin. Not a single artice of this report was implemented.
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gamini / November 7, 2013
Bulla as AG was anything else, but not an amicus curiae.
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Chandra Seneviratne / November 8, 2013
He is MR’s man. Honesty and integrity of this man is questionable. His LLRC report is worthless document designed to serve MR and put core issues to near mockery. What members appointed by MR to LLRC ultimately produced was a document that pleases MR and his goons .
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shankar / November 8, 2013
i don’t think the LLRC report was that bad,because if it was so favourable to MR why is he not implementing its recommendations?
MR should have seriously started to implement the report when it was given to him.I saw a photo of him reading it very seriously,but maybe it was too much for him because he is not a bookworm and likes to run about .He gave it to his secretary to implement and that guy is just having it doing nothing much.That is the difference between premedasa and MR.If premedasa gave anything to anybody to do it will be done in double quick time because they are so shit scared of him and he will be following it up every day.MR’s managerial skills are not that good.He delegates then runs after something else and forgets about it.If he had implemented the LLRC report recommendations he would have done much better at the recently concluded northern province poll.
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Palayang yako! / November 8, 2013
shankar:
The reason that MR has not implemented any of the LLRC report is because there is f-all to implement in it and it is only the “Famous Forum” members who, for reasons best known to them, keep suggesting that there was some substance to that piece of s..t. It was meant to be a smokescreen from the very beginning and these Colombo 7 hypocrites have tried to give credibility to that piece of garbage and have, unfortunately, given it credibility in some circles.
“Bulla” was the real MR cat’s paw in that and all the other deceptions practiced in that area.
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shankar / November 9, 2013
“it is only the “Famous Forum” members who, for reasons best known to them, keep suggesting that there was some substance”
What about blake.He himself came and saw mahinda and said the report was good and to implement it but because mahinda did not even start on it the US had to bring a resolution in the UN stating that it should be implemented.Now that it is there mahinda is landed with it and reluctantly gave it to his secretary lalith to implement.Lalith after more than a year with said that more than half has been implemented. Why is the rest not if as you claim it is rubbish.The half that is implemented is probably the rubbish but the rest has been put into the too hard basket.
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