Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Vigneswaran, PC (; ; born 23 October 1939) is a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

lawyer, judge, politician and Member of Parliament. After practising law for more than 15 years, Vigneswaran was a member of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

for 25 years. He was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

and a judge of the

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

, High Court,

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

and

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. He was

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of the Northern Province from October 2013 to October 2018. He was elected to the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

in August 2020. Vigneswaran is leader of the Tamil People's Alliance and the Tamil People's National Alliance.

Early life and family

Vigneswaran was born on 23 October 1939 in

Hulftsdorp Hulftsdorp (also written, incorrectly as Hultsdorf ) is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is part of the postal area known as ''Colombo 12''. It has been known historically as Hulffsdorp, Hulfsdorp, Hulftsdorp, Hulsdorp, Hulstsdorp and Hülffsd ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, the capital of

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. His parents were born in Manipay in northern Ceylon and he had two sisters. His father Canagasabapathy was a public official who worked in several parts of the country. Vigneswaran's grandfather was a cousin of statesmen P. Ramanathan and P. Arunachalam. Vigneswaran's father's work meant that the family moved often. Vigneswaran spent the first nine years of his life in

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

and studied at Christchurch College. The family then moved to

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

where Vigneswaran attended Holy Family Convent. Vigneswaran joined

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

aged 11. After school Vigneswaran obtained B.A. degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and LL.B. degree from the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

. He then joined Ceylon Law College, qualifying as a

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

and an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

. He was president of the Law Students’ Union at the college in 1962. One of Vigneswaran's sons is married to the daughter of government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara. His other son is married to the niece of former MP Keseralal Gunasekera. Vigneswaran is also a follower of the controversial

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

Swami Premananda whom he has compared to

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and has requested that Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

release three jailed followers of Premananda.

Career

Law

Vigneswaran practised of law for more than fifteen years. He is a

President's Counsel A president's counsel ( postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as an individual "learned in the law". The term is an honorific that replaced the Queen's Counsel (QC), which Sri Lanka ceased appointing ...

. He joined the Judicial Service on 7 May 1979. He served as a

and

District Judge District Judge may refer to: * A United States federal judge, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate * A judge in a state court (United States), where the state is divided into judicial districts * * A judge in the district courts ...

Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

, Chavakachcheri and Mallakam. He became District Judge for

in January 1987. He was appointed to the High Court in 1988, serving in Northern Province, Eastern, North Central, Uva and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

. He was appointed to the

in 1995. Vigneswaran was appointed to the

in March 2001. He retired in October 2004.

Politics

In April 2013 it was reported that Vigneswaran had been chosen by the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance (TNA; ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu'') was a political alliance in Sri Lanka which represented the Sri Lankan Tamil minority of the country. It was formed in October 2001 by a group of moderate T ...

(TNA) to be its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

Northern Provincial Council Northern Provincial Council ( ''Vaṭa Mākāṇa Capai''; NPC) is the provincial council for the Northern Province in Sri Lanka. In accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution, NPC has legislative power over a variety of matters including agri ...

(NPC). The reports were denied by the TNA. However, in July 2013, after nominations were called for the provincial council election, the TNA announced that Vigneswaran would be its chief ministerial candidate in the Northern Province. He contested the provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates in

Jaffna District Jaffna District ( ''Yāḻppāṇam Māvaṭṭam''; ''yāpanaya distrikkaya'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a ...

and was elected to the NPC. Vigneswaran received his chief ministerial appointment letter from

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

G. A. Chandrasiri on 1 October 2013. He took his oath as chief minister and provincial councillor in front of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

at the Presidential Secretariat on 7 October 2013. Vigneswaran's relationship with the TNA leadership deteriorated thereafter. In December 2015 he became leader of the newly formed Tamil People's Council (TPC), a forum to highlight issues affecting Sri Lankan Tamils. The TPC, which included civil society groups, religious leaders and academics as well as political parties, claimed that it wasn't political or an alternative to the TNA. On 24 October 2018, the day after he ceased being chief minister, Vigneswaran announced that he had formed a new political alliance, the Tamil People's Alliance (TPA, Thamizh Makkal Kootani). In February 2020 the TPA joined with three other political parties to form the Tamil People's National Alliance (TPNA, Thamizh Makkal Tesiya Kootani)

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

to contest the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

. Vigneswaran became the alliance's leader. He contested the 2020 parliamentary election as one of the TPNA's candidates in

and was elected to the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In 2024 he was found to have personally requested liquor licenses from President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ranil had given Vigneswaran a license for a liquor shop in Killinochi. When questioned Vigneswaran denied the license was for his use but for a woman without parents.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigneswaran, C. V. 1939 births Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Ceylon Ceylonese advocates Ceylonese proctors Chief ministers of Northern Province, Sri Lanka Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka judges District Courts of Sri Lanka judges Judges of the high courts of Sri Lanka Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Living people Magistrates of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Politicians from Colombo People from British Ceylon President's Counsels (Sri Lanka) Puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians Tamil National Alliance politicians