Editors hauled up before bar of Parliament and a stranger in the House

(Excerpted from Memories of 33 year in Parliament by Nihal Seneviratne)

A few days before Prime Minister J.R.Jayewardene left Parliament to assume duties as the first Executive President of the country, he summoned me to his Chambers in Parliament. He then showed me a copy of the Ceylon Observer of January 30, 1978 which showed a picture of a man and a film actress in a boat and the caption beneath the picture read “The President of one of the leading industrial complexes in South Korea showing the Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Mr. A.C..S. Hameed, around the showrooms of the industrial complex.”

He then told me the editors of the Ceylon Observer were guilty of a breach of privilege of Parliament. In a tactful manner, I disagreed with him by saying this was only a printing and typographical mistake. He disagreed with me and told me to summon to the two editors to Parliament to explain their conduct. I then told him this was uncalled for and suggested that if it was a breach of privilege, the correct and proper action to be taken was to summon them before the Committee of Privileges which had already been established comprising both Government and Opposition members.

Though I argued Mr. Jayewardene disagreed adding that before he leaves Parliament in a few days he wants to see that proper procedure is followed as an example for the future. I still insisted that this was not the legitimate and proper manner to act but he refused to see my point of view. I then added that in the history of Parliament since 1948, never have any journalists been brought to the chamber. I told him I want to be sure that I follow the correct parliamentary procedure since there is no precedent at this stage.

Then he told me, “Nihal, if you have any doubt about the correct procedure to follow, you can consult my brother,” referring to H.W.Jayewardene who was one of his principal advisers. Straightaway I said, “‘The Attorney General is the chief law officer of the Crown and if I need any advice, I will consult him” adding that I know the present Attorney General, Shiva Pasupathi, who is always willing to help and advise me.

Following the Prime Minister’s strict instructions, I studied the subject very carefully and drafted the letter to be sent to the two editors to appear before Parliament for questioning. I was acting on the directions of Speaker Anandatissa de Alwis directing me to summon them. Ironically, the two editors, Harold Pieris and Associate Editor Philip Cooray were close friends of mine from my university days in Peradeniya.

The first item on the agenda on the morning of February 2,1978 was the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Hameed who said that the appearance of the wrong caption in the Ceylon Observer is defamatory and had damaged his reputation and called for action to be taken, after an inquiry, against those responsible for the lapse. The Speaker said he is satisfied there is a prima facie case of a breach of privilege and called on the Leader of the House, Ranasinghe Premadasa, to move the motion ordering the two editors of the Ceylon Observer, namely Harold Pieris and Philip Cooray, to appear before the Assembly at 5.00 p.m. the same day and show cause why they should not be punished by the National State Assembly for a breach of privilege.

R.J.G. (Ronnie) de Mel , Minister of Finance and Planning, seconded the motion. I was then directed by the Speaker to take necessary action to summon the persons mentioned in the resolution to appear before the Assembly by 5.00 p.m.

At 5.00 p.m., when the House met to discuss the Question of Privilege, Mr. Premadasa moved a motion for the Assembly to form itself into a committee of the entire Assembly to investigate and report back to the Assembly on the complaint of a breach of privilege made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs A.C.S.Hameed. The relevant motion was put to the House and was carried unanimously following which the House formed itself into a committee of the whole Assembly. The Speaker functioned as the Chairman of the Committee and the quorum was set at 20. The Chairman directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring to the Bar of the Assembly the persons to whom notices had been served and Mr. Pieris and Mr. Cooray were conducted to the Chamber and asked to introduce themselves.

The Chairman then informed the two Editors that it has been alleged that they have committed an offence set out in Section 22 of the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, as amended by Law No. 5 of 1978. “Have you any cause to show why you should not be dealt with and punished under Section 28 of the Act?”

Mr. Harold Pieris spoke first and said he had a statement and the Speaker asked him to read it. He said that on January 30, 1978 he was away from office as it was his off day and Mr. Philip Cooray , Associate Editor, was acting as the Editor of the Ceylon Observer on this day. However , on January 30, he had come to office around 2.15p.m. as there was a staff meeting and then he had met Mr. Cooray who said there had been a mix up in one of the captions. The Ceylon Observer goes into print around 11 a.m. and the paper had only one edition each day and the very next day a correction and apology regarding this matter was inserted on the same page. Mr. Pieris also tabled copies of the newspapers which carried the correction.

Soon after Mr. Cooray gave evidence and explained that around 10.15 a.m. or so when the proof of Page 3 came to him, he noticed that the caption to Foreign Minister Hameed’s picture was mixed up and instructed the sub-editor to make the correction immediately. However, when the paper started printing, he had noticed that the correct caption to Mr. Hameed’s picture had not been made and immediately ordered the press to be stopped but by then 900 copies of the paper had been printed and distributed to the sellers.

He had corrected the error and the balance 4,000 copies of the Ceylon Observer were printed and distributed with the correct caption. He had also immediately informed the Chairman of Lake House Mr. R.Bodinagoda who had ordered an immediate investigation. Mr. Cooray also tendered an unqualified apology to Mr. Hameed for the error.

Thereafter many MPs including J.R.Jayewardene, Gamini Dissanayake, V.N.Navaratnam, R.Sampanthan, D.M.Chandrapala, R.Premadasa, Dr. P.M.B. Cyril, Ronnie de Mel questioned the Editors at length seeking clarification regarding this unfortunate incident.

The incident ended with the final statement by the Speaker. “I have to report to the Parliament that the Committee has unanimously resolved that, in the view of the explanation and unqualified apology tendered by those responsible for the defamatory publication, a fine of Rs. 1,000 each be imposed on Mr. Pieris and Mr. Cooray the fine to be paid to the Ceylon Deaf and Blind School before February 6, 1978. The appropriate correction and apology with full publicity will be published on Page 1 of the next issues of the Ceylon Observer.”

The Prime Minister said he would ensure that the fne would be paid by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., and not personally by the editors.

Then J.R.Jayewardene, who was to assume office as Executive President two days later on February 4, had the final word when he said that he was glad that the Assembly had conducted itself admirably on the first occasion on which it was sitting in the capacity as a court. Thereafter the Speaker gave permission for the two editors to withdraw, and they left the Parliament Chamber. Thus ended the infamous incident, one that hasn’t been repeated thereafter.

Stranger in the House

Some happenings in Parliament are rather humorous like this one which took place during my early years in Parliament. It is rather trivial and not politically significant but remains an unforgettable incident for me. In the sixties there was to be the Opening Session of a new Parliament after the General Election. The staff and I were all busy with so many new MPs and those Members who had been re-elected trooping into Parliament accompanied by their friends and relatives. Our security staff checking the Members had apparently not been able to check each Member properly.

The quorum bells were rung and we, the Clerks, accompanied the Speaker into the Chamber. After the Proclamation was read out, the next item on the Order Paper was the swearing in of all the Members present. While seated at the Table of the House, a member summoned me and asked me to check on one particular new MP who appeared suspicious. So very cautiously I went across to the second row of the Opposition benches and asked him what his name was and which constituency he represented.

He made a fundamental mistake of saying that he represented Mulkirigala. I immediately knew he was speaking an untruth as I knew well it was George Rajapakse who had been re-elected to that seat. Cautiously and without making it an issue, I asked him to accompany me to the lobby and thereafter asked the Sergeant at Arms to keep him in his custody till the days sitting was over.

I returned to continue the swearing in of the Members. Once the sitting was concluded I took the person, clad in smart national dress, to the Speaker’s Chambers. The Speaker questioned him about himself and his background. We got the biggest shock of all when he blurted out that he came that morning from the Mental Hospital at Angoda! We immediately contacted the hospital authorities who confirmed this. We then asked the Sergeant-at-Arms to accompany him back to his rightful place.

If we had not identified him then, he may very well have taken his oaths as a Member of Parliament and we would have been faced with a bigger problem of dealing with a fully sworn in Member of Parliament, in fact not being a Member of Parliament at all. This was certainly one of the most unforgettable incidents in my lifetime.