May 20, 2017, 6:28 pm
by Nihal Seneviratne
(Former Secretary General of Parliament)
In the early sixties around 1961, being still a youth in my twenties, I had a visit from Nanda Mathew, MP for Kolonne. He handed a question to be answered in Parliament relating to the alleged gift of a Morris Oxford car by Ceylon Insurance Co. Ltd., a private insurer, to Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike implying that the gift was an attempt at influencing her to not proceed with the nationalization of private insurance companies which she was contemplating.
Having read the question I agreed erroneously (as subsequent events proved) to place it on the Order Paper believing that he was only querying whether such a car was in fact gifted to her – I had then not realized that in effect the Member was imputing improper conduct of a Member of Parliament, which under Standing Order 78 could not be raised except on a substantive motion.
On the day the question was to be raised, I had a visit from the Minister of Finance, Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike. He addressed me as "Galba," (a nickname my friends used an unusual form of address by a powerful minister seeing me on official business) he said, "you have made a serious blunder. Why have you placed that question on the Order Paper. Did you not know that the conduct of a Member of Parliament cannot be raised except by substantive motion?"
"You are responsible for this," he accused. I vaguely tried to explain my thinking to him but was swiftly overruled. Knowing him to be a brash individual, almost bordering on being arrogant, I said no more. "Come with me to the Speaker's Chambers," he ordered. I had no option but to follow. Meeting Sir Albert Pieris, the Speaker, in his Chambers Felix explained the position and asked the Speaker not to allow the question to be raised in the House. I apologized for my mistake and the question was not permitted.
The matter did not end there. Nanda Mathew, obviously with instructions from his leader, J. R. Jayewardene, saw me again a few days later and handed over a Motion calling for the appointment of a Select Committee to report on the car transaction. It read "to investigate and report on the gift of a new Morris Oxford car 4 SRI 5460, valued at Rs. 19,985 to Mrs. Sirimavo Dias Bandaranaike, by the Ceylon Insurance Co Ltd on or about 6 April, 1961 when she was Prime Minister, (and) the circumstances under which the gift of the car was made and the car later disposed of.'
The motion was placed on the Order Paper on Nov. 18, 1965, duly adopted and a Select Committee set up on Dec.1, 1965 with J. R. Jayewardene as Chairman. From Jan. 18, 1966 onwards 13 sittings took place ending up in March 1967. In the Final Report, the Select Committee decided as follows:
"Nothing untoward in Mrs. Bandaranaike's conduct in this matter. We accept her statement that the transaction regarding the car did not influence her or her government in any matter concerning government policy in regard to Insurance".
The matter ended there.
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