Chellappah Nagalingam, KC (25 October 1893 – 25 October 1958) was a leading

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka ** Demographics of Sri Lanka * Sri Lankan people, or of Sri Lankan descent; this includes: ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan T ...

judge and lawyer. He was a Judge of the

Supreme Court of Ceylon The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (; ) is the highest court in Sri Lanka and the final judicial instance of record. Established in 1801 and empowered to exercise its powers subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the Supreme C ...

and served as acting

Governor-General of Ceylon The governor-general of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. History There were four governors-general. Si ...

in 1954. He also served as acting Chief Justice, acting

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and

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. He was the first

Ceylon 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 an ...

to be appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He is considered to be the leading founder of Hindu College Colombo.

Early life and education

Nagalingam was born on 25 October 1893. He was the son of Chellappah and Meenachchi from

Urumpirai Urumpirai () is a town in Northern Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. It is located from Jaffna. * Urumpirai Temple () * Katpahapillaiyar Temple See also *Sivakumaran Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran (; 26 September 1950 – 5 June 1974) was a Sri Lank ...

in Northern Province 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, ...

. He hailed from a distinguished family and had four eminent brothers: C. Suntharalingam, a member of parliament and government minister; C. Panchalingam, a medical doctor; C. Amirthalingam, Director of Fisheries; and C. Thiagalingam, a leading lawyer. Nagalingam was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna and

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 ...

where he excelled in studies and sports and won the ''De Soysa Science Prize''. Thereafter he entered

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 in 1917.

Legal career

After Nagalingam was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, he practised 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 ...

until 1937. In 1938 he was appointed an Additional

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. He was appointed District Judge of

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in 1941 and acting

in 1946. He was also appointed

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1946. In 1947 he became acting

, one of the three official members of the

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, heading committee of justice with ministerial rank in the Board of Ministers. He was also called to the bench as an acting puisne justice and was confirmed justice of the

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in 1947, the first Tamil to hold that post. He was later appointed Senior Supreme Court Judge and acted as Chief Justice on a number of occasions. In this capacity he was called upon to briefly serve as acting

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in 1954 whilst Lord Soulbury was out of the country. Nagalingam was chairman of the ''Civil Courts Commission'' and the ''Salaries Commission'', and member of the ''Council of Legal Education'' and the ''Judicial Service Commission''. Nagalingam was one of the founders of the ''Hindu Educational Society,'' which founded Hindu College Colombo in 1951.

Family

Nagalingam married Gnanam, daughter of Vaithilingam. They had two sons (Yogalingam and Bakthilingam) and four daughters (Maheswari, Sarveswari, Vigneswari and Nandeswari). Nagalingam died on 25 October 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagalingam, C. 1893 births 1958 deaths Acting chief justices of Ceylon Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna Attorneys general of British Ceylon British Ceylon judges Ceylonese advocates Ceylonese Queen's Counsel District Courts of Sri Lanka judges Governors-general of Ceylon People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon 20th-century King's Counsel Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers