It is impossible to believe that a quarter of a century has now elapsed since the sudden and untimely death of Ainsley Clive De Zoysa [better known as "Bunty"]. To us, juniors of the time, ‘Bunty’ seemed immortal, and a Hulftsdorp without him was an eventuality we just could not conceive. Yet, so it is, and has been for exactly 25 years.

I have had the privilege of having known ‘Bunty’ in four capacities; as a family friend; as my supervising officer in the Attorney General’s Department; as an awesome opponent after his retirement from that Department; and finally as my senior counsel in the unofficial bar. When I hark back to the days when ‘Bunty’ was among us [which seems like yesterday], I am so deluged by a multitude of nostalgic memories that it becomes difficult to arrange my thoughts in order and select which to present.

‘Bunty’ De Zoysa was a many faceted character, the like of whom Hulftsdorp will not, alas, have the fortune of knowing again. As a friend, he was loyal to the core, and followed to the letter, the sage advice of Polonius to Laertes "The friends thou hast and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy heart with hoops of steel." Both as a man and as a lawyer, he feared no man; and to him, no one was too "big’ to `take on’ and none too ‘small’ to fight for. He never ‘demanded’ respect as many do today: he ‘commanded’ it from all who came into contact with him. At the bar, he was a true professional, and not a `businessman’ in the garb of a ‘professional’: many are the fortunate litigants who received his services free of charge where the cause was right. He was a criminal lawyer of rare distinction who was equally at home in the original as well as in the appellate courts. As a senior counsel, juniors were to him, not mere subordinates to order around and use as `glorified porters’ to carry his books around as some do today. To him, his juniors were friends and colleagues who were Juniors’ only because they had been born later than he, and he strove to instill self-confidence in them and develop them to stand on their own feet.

Anecdotes about ‘Bunty’ De Zoysa are indeed ‘legion’: many of them were the ‘folk-lore’ of the Attorney General’s Department when I joined it 39 years ago. No appreciation of ‘Bunty’ De Zoysa would be complete without a few such anecdotes; and I have selected three which illustrate some endearing qualities of this unique person, the first being a part of the ‘folklore’ of the Attorney General’s Department, and the other two drawn from my personal experience.

‘E’ files were the bane of officers of the criminal branch of the Attorney General’s Department. They were ‘civil advice files’ which contained requests for advice from various Government Departments; quite a few of which were about the disbursement of sums of money, because while a Public Servant could be surcharged in respect of a sum of money disbursed by him if he had done so erroneously even if he had acted perfectly bona fide, he could not be surcharged if such disbursement was made with the advice of the Attorney General’s Department. One such file allocated to ‘Bunty’ De Zoysa related to a payment of some forty odd rupees. Though the amount was relatively small, the resolution of the legal question involved was complicated, and ‘Bunty’ had no inclination to do research into abstruse questions of ‘civil’ law which bored him stiff. With an originality that was characteristic of him, he did no research and wrote no report, but, having summoned the Public Servant who sought the advice for an interview, gave him the forty odd rupees out of his own funds and advised him to make the payment!!!

I was prosecuting at the Negombo `Assizes’, and ‘Bunty’ was my supervising officer. In the middle of a complicated case which was going badly for the Crown, there arose a decision I had to take, and take immediately, but could not take because there was a circular stating that such a decision could be taken only with the prior approval of the Attorney General himself. Those were days before there was ‘direct dialling’ from Negombo to Colombo, and having taken a `trunk call’ to ‘Bunty’, I explained the situation to him. Never will I forget his response, which was "You are the man on the spot: you make the decision." I then reminded him of the circular. His response to this was even more unforgettable: it was "to hell with the circular: it is impractical: take what decision you see fit and make a minute on the file saying that I authorized you to take that decision. I will take the responsibility. If you are wrong I will tell you where you went wrong when you return to Colombo. Hereafter never telephone me, but take what decision you see fit, and make a minute saying that I authorized it.’*’ Although 1, always made my own decisions thereafter, and never made a minute `passing the buck’ to ‘Bunty’, this was one of the ways in which ‘Bunty’ developed self-confidence in his juniors such as me, and taught us to think for ourselves and make our own decisions, while `sticking his own neck out’ to do so.

The last anecdote concerns a `brush’ with a Judge. ‘Bunty’ was leading me for one accused in a long and complicated, Jury Trial which lasted about 3½ months of ‘day to day’ proceedings. `Bunty’ was addressing the Jury. It was clearly a Herculean task to marshal and present the massive volume of evidence adduced over so long a period, but ‘Bunty’ did so, and had won the rapt attention of the Jury: suddenly the Judge `cracked’ what was, in his perception, a ‘joke’, and the ‘spell’ woven by ‘Bunty’ was broken. He did not `explode’ as I expected him to, but stood erect and stock still, looking straight at the Judge without even blinking, until he stopped laughing. Even then ‘Bunty’ remained stock still and silent: all eyes were now on him. The Judge then said "Yes Mr. De Zoysa?" indicating that he should resume his rudely interrupted address. ‘Bunty’ then broke his silence: he said in measured tones:- "that, was a good one sir, a good one"; and then "a good, good, good, good, good, good one sir"., with the tempo of his words [which were accompanied by taps on the Bar Table] increasing with every "good". Thereafter he lowered his voice, and resuming his measured tones, said "in short, a good one sir; now, may I resume". Never again was ‘Bunty’ interrupted though his address lasted a further two or three full days.

‘Bunty’ is gone, and we will never see the like of him again. We are all the poorer for his death. At least those such as I who are privileged to have known him have a rich store of memories which, to some extent, relieve the ever present and mounting frustrations of Huffisdorp. I pity, from the bottom of my heart, those who had not that privilege, or such memories.