Prasannajit De Silva Guide

Dr. Prasannajit de Silva is an art historian and educator specializing in the visual culture of British India. He has taught at several prestigious institutions, including the University of Sussex, Birkbeck, University of London, and the Workers’ Educational Association.

His research primarily explores identity and domestic life in colonial contexts, specifically how visual imagery—such as book illustrations—shaped the perception of British expatriates and Indian subjects. Key Publications and Articles

Colonial Self-Fashioning in British India, c. 1785–1845: A major book published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2018, examining how identity and difference were visualized during the rise of British political power in India.

Representing Home Life Abroad: British Domestic Life in Early-Nineteenth-Century India: Published in the journal Visual Culture in Britain (2011), this article analyzes book illustrations depicting the domestic lives of Britons in India.

A Second Renaissance?: A review of the work by Hermione de Almeida and George H. Gilpin, published in the journal Art History in 2007. Academic Contributions prasannajit de silva

De Silva has served as a coordinator for major academic projects, including special issues for the journal Art History. His work is frequently cited in broader studies of medical anthropology and sociology, particularly those exploring cultural changes and history in Sri Lanka and British India. Colonial self-fashioning in British India, c. 1785–1845

2. Early Legal Career & Unofficial Bar

Before ascending to the bench, Prasannajit De Silva had a long and impactful career as a practicing lawyer.

• Appointment as ACSL: He served as an Additional Solicitor General (ASG). This is one of the highest-ranking positions within the Attorney General’s Department (the "Official Bar"). In this role, he represented the state in high-profile criminal and civil appeals and provided legal advice to the government.
• Private Practice: Before joining the Attorney General’s Department (or during specific periods of private practice), he was a President’s Counsel (PC), a title equivalent to "Senior Counsel" or "Queen’s Counsel" in other jurisdictions, denoting seniority and excellence in the profession.

Controversy and Criticism: The Fingersmith Case

No profile would be complete without addressing the legal controversy that briefly brought de Silva into the public spotlight. In the late 2010s, his name surfaced in connection with the "Fingersmith" bond issuance case, where he acted as counsel for certain primary dealers. Critics alleged conflicts of interest regarding legal opinions provided during controversial treasury bond auctions.

De Silva maintained that his opinions were strictly within professional legal ethics, asserting: "A lawyer’s duty is to advise on the law as it stands, not to set monetary policy." Ultimately, no formal disciplinary action was taken against him by the Supreme Court’s disciplinary committee, but the episode highlighted the grey areas where law, finance, and politics collide in Sri Lanka. Appointment as ACSL: He served as an Additional

The Cartography of Silence: Trauma, Memory, and the Dismantling of the Lyric in the Poetry of Prasannajit de Silva

In the landscape of contemporary South Asian poetry, the voice of Prasannajit de Silva emerges not as a loudspeaker for political rhetoric, nor as a soothing balm for historical wounds, but as a scalpel: precise, cold, and unsettlingly honest. A poet of the Sri Lankan civil war’s aftermath, de Silva occupies a unique and difficult space. He writes in the shadow of a thirty-year conflict that officially ended in 2009, yet his work is conspicuously devoid of conventional war reportage, heroic elegies, or clear ideological binaries. Instead, de Silva’s poetry constitutes a radical cartography of silence—an attempt to map the psychic topography of a post-trauma society where language itself has become a suspect currency. Through a sparse, fragmented lyricism and a relentless interrogation of memory, de Silva dismantles the very possibility of a cohesive poetic voice, forcing the reader to confront the ethical limits of representation. His work is not merely about Sri Lanka; it is a profound meditation on how language fails, fractures, and yet, paradoxically, remains the only tool we have to approach the unpresentable.

5. Professional Reputation

Prasannajit De Silva is widely regarded as a:

• Gentleman of the Bar: Colleagues often describe him as soft-spoken, polite, and professional.
• Legal Scholar: He is known for his deep knowledge of civil procedure and criminal law.
• Neutral Figure: Despite holding high office during turbulent political times, he has largely maintained a reputation for being non-partisan and focused strictly on legal principles.

The SEC Chairmanship: A Defining Era (2009–2014)

If there is a single role that defines Prasannajit de Silva in the public eye, it is his tenure as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. Appointed in the aftermath of the country’s civil war, de Silva took the helm during a volatile period. The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) was emerging from a devastating bear market and needed structural reform to attract foreign direct investment.

During his chairmanship, Prasannajit de Silva implemented five transformative policies: Under his watch

1. Corporate Governance Code: He introduced mandatory corporate governance rules for listed companies, moving away from "comply or explain" to strict enforcement on board composition and audit committees.
2. Insider Trading Prosecutions: For the first time in Sri Lankan history, the SEC under de Silva aggressively pursued insider trading cases. He utilized his litigation background to build evidentiary trails that had previously been ignored.
3. Takeovers and Mergers Code: He overhauled the Takeovers Code, ensuring minority shareholders received fair treatment during acquisitions.
4. Market Surveillance: He introduced computerized surveillance systems to detect market manipulation in real-time.
5. Investor Education: Recognizing that retail investors were often exploited, he launched national campaigns to demystify equity investments.

Under his watch, the CSE was upgraded by MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) to Frontier Market status, a direct result of the regulatory stability he engineered.

Thought Leadership & Professional Governance

Beyond billable hours, Prasannajit de Silva has been a champion of good governance. He has been an active member of professional bodies such as the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and the Institute of Chartered Accountants (as an invited resource person). His lectures on "Directors’ Duties and Liabilities" are considered mandatory listening for new corporate board members.

He is also a prolific (if understated) writer. His analyses published in the Journal of the Bar Association and Daily FT often dissect complex judgments with a clarity that demystifies the law for finance professionals.