Deva Manoharan Swaminathan (, ; born 30 April 1945) 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, politician and ex cabinet minister.

Early life and family

Swaminathan was born on 30 April 1945. He is the son of M. Swaminathan and Lalithambikai (daughter of S. Pararajasingam and grand daughter of P. Arunachalam). He was educated at

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 ...

. After school he joined

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

, qualifying as an advocate of the

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 ...

Career

After qualifying Swaminathan started practising law in

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 ...

, taking over the chambers of proctor Ratnakaram which were renamed D. M. Swaminathan Associates in 1971. Swaminathan was appointed

Governor of Western Province __NOTOC__ The governor of the Western Province of Sri Lanka ( ''Basnāhira palāth āndukāravarayā''), is responsible for the management of the Western Provincial Council. Some of the office's key functions include exercising powers vested in t ...

in June 1994 after the controversial dismissal of

Suppiah Sharvananda Deshamanya Suppiah Sharvananda (also spelt Suppiah Sarvananda) was the 37th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and the first Governor of the Western Province. Early life Sharvanda was born on 22 February 1923 in Kayts, Jaffna District. He attended St. ...

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 ...

D. B. Wijetunga. He was appointed chairman of the National Savings Bank in March 2002, serving until 2004. Swaminathan was appointed as one of the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

's (UNP)

National List The National List (, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is one of the ancestors of the mo ...

MPs in the

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

following the 2010 parliamentary election. In October 2010 he was appointed to the

Parliamentary Council The Parliamentary Council was a constitutional authority in Sri Lanka established under the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Formally being constituted on January 1, 2011 as pe ...

which was established by the controversial 18th Amendment to make non-binding recommendations the president on the membership of various national commissions. After the 2015 presidential election he was appointed Minister of Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs by newly elected President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, S ...

. Swaminathan was re-appointed as a National List MP following the 2015 parliamentary election. He was appointed Minister of Rehabilitation and Resettlement on 24 August 2015. He was given the additional portfolio of Hindu Affairs on 4 September 2015. He was given the additional portfolio of Prison Reforms on 11 November 2015. Swaminathan has been a member of the Rotary Club of Colombo since 1971. He is a trustee of the Sri Ponnambala Vaneswara Temple at Sea Street in Kochchikade, Colombo which was founded by his great-great-grand father A. Ponnambalam. He is one of the UNP's vice-chairmen. He was also treasurer of the UNP.

Notes

References

External links

D. M. Swaminathan Associates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swaminathan, D. M. 1945 births Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Ceylonese advocates Coomaraswamy family Governors of Western Province, Sri Lanka Living people Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Politicians from Colombo Lawyers from Colombo Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians United National Party politicians