Sunday Times E-Paper

One of Lanka's leading legal eagles bids adieu; final rites held yesterday

The final rites of senior President's counsel Gomin Dayasiri were conducted last evening at the Borella Cemetery in Colombo. Mr Dayasiri passed away on Friday night at the age of 76.

A close legal adviser to former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, he appeared in many cases of national significance throughout his lengthy legal career. Notable among them was the 2006 case where he, along with the late H. L. de Silva, PC and the late S.L. Gunasekara successfully argued before the Supreme Court that President J. R. Jayewardene’s 1987 proclamation merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces had no force in law.

Mr Dayasiri was also a petitioner who argued against the 19th Amendment in a Fundamental Rights petition before the Supreme Court in 2015. After then President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament in 2018 however, Mr Dayasiri was also one of those who petitioned against that decision. He told the Supreme Court that while he argued against 19A, since it was later passed by Parliament, the President was now duty-bound to act in accordance with it, and the dissolution in less than four and a half years without a Parliament resolution was unconstitutional.

An alumnus of Ananda College in Colombo, he was a law lecturer, a leading commentator on legal and political matters and a keen cricket fan.

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2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://sundaytimes.pressreader.com/article/281522229784325

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