Elanga Wikramanayake

Elanga D Wikramanayake
Nationality Sri Lankan
Occupation Attorney at Law
Known for Solicitor General
Title Deshamanya

Elanga Devapriya Wikramanayake (known to many as ED Wikramanayake) LLB (Ceylon) and LLM (Stanford) Solicitor General, Constitutional lawyer, Leading Member of private bar in Sri Lanka

Contents

Education and family

Elanga or ED as he was known, like his father (Senator EB Wikramanayake, Minister of Justice ) brother Rakhitha Wikramanayake and sons was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia Sri Lanka. He excelled in rifle shooting winning the Governor-General’s Cup at the age of nineteen.

Legal career

The Wikramanayake family association with law can be traced back to Crown Proctorship in Galle in 1848. [1]. after obtaining a Bachelor of Laws Degree he trained at the Ceylon Law College and joined the Attorney Generals Department as a crown counsel in 1958 rising to the post of Solicitor General in 1977. He obtained a Masters degree in Law from Stanford University. He was the leading crown prosecutor for the Criminal Justice Commission in the 1970's [2]. He left the Attorney Generals Department and continued in private practice. He appeared in many cases against incumbent governments at a time when intimadation of the judiciary and legal process was not uncommon and is best known for his appearance on behalf Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Felix Dias Bandaranaike before the Special Presidential Commission and later in opposing policies of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga [3]. He also appeared for Industries Minister C. V. Gunaratne in a defamation case against Lalith Athulathmudali.Many tributes refer to his integrity, lack of political bias and impartiality . Dayasiri describes him as a " a fearless fighter who cared only for the cause he fought for, and he fought it crisp and clean" . SL Gunasekera has classed him as one of the greats in Sri Lankan Law along with his close friend H. L. de Silva [4].

Honours

He was awarded the title Deshamanya for his services to law [5]. He is known to have declined the honours awarded by a government at the time on a matter of principle [6] and was commended for it by leading lawyers.

Outdoors Life and conservation

Wikramanayake was known to be an outdoors man and for exploits such as rafting down the Kelani Valley. He was a lover of wild life and an enthusiastic angler. His sons Eric Wikramanayake and Athula Wikramanayake are well known conservationists, biologists and experts on wild life,his son Arittha R Wikramanayake and granddaughter Arisha have authored a book on butterflies of Sri Lanka [7].

References

  1. ^ "First Sri Lankan Queen’s Counsel in Australia". www.island.lk. http://www.island.lk/2003/01/05//news16.html. Retrieved 2011-12-1. 
  2. ^ "The distinguished ED triumphed in legal practice and in life Elanga Devapriya Wikramanayake by HL de Silva". sundaytimes.lk. http://sundaytimes.lk/090111/Plus/sundaytimesplus_12.html. Retrieved 2011-12-1. 
  3. ^ "Tribute to a great lawyer, patriot and gentleman E. D. Wikramanayake by Gomin Dayasiri". sundaytimes.lk. Sunday January 18, 2009. http://sundaytimes.lk/090118/Plus/sundaytimesplus_08.html. Retrieved 2011-12-1. 
  4. ^ "H L De Silva PC: The last of the ‘Greats’By S.L Gunasekara Sunday April 12, 2009". sundaytimes.lk. Sunday April 12, 2009. http://sundaytimes.lk/090412/News/sundaytimesnews_31.html. Retrieved 2011-12-1. 
  5. ^ "'Deshamanya' for leading lawyers The Sunday Times 5th April 1998". sundaytimes.lk. 5th April 1998. http://sundaytimes.lk/980405/news5.html. Retrieved 2011-12-1. 
  6. ^ "The case of king and the donkey By Mudliyar The Sunday Times 15th February 1998". sundaytimes.lk. 15th February 1998. http://sundaytimes.lk/980215/mudli.html. Retrieved 2011-12-1. 
  7. ^ "Together from here to there in search of beauty A new book by a father and daughter duo explores not only the wonder of butterflies but also their journeys of five years.". lankalibrary.com. http://lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3024. Retrieved 2011-10-10.