Pathmanathan Ramanathan (1 September 1932 – 7 December 2006) was a leading

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 and judge. Known as Rama, he was a High Court judge, Court of Appeal judge,

provincial governor Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

university chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

and a judge of the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (; ) is the Supreme court, 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 ...

Early life and family

Ramanathan was born on 1 September 1932. He was the son of Sangarapillai Pathmanathan, a

broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...

and chairman of the ''Low-Country Products Association'', and Srimani, grand daughter of

Ponnambalam Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, (; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician who served as Solicitor-General of Ceylon. Early life and family Ramanathan was born on 16 April 1851 at the home of his maternal gra ...

, a leading politician during British colonial rule. Ramanathan was educated at

St. Joseph's College, Colombo St. Joseph's College is a selective-entry Roman Catholic school in Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1896 by French Missionaries led by Rev. Father Christophe Ernest Bonjean. The college has over 4,000 enrolled students with a staff of over 450 as o ...

and Montford High School in southern India. He was a keen sportsman. After school Ramanathan went to the UK and studied at the St David's College,

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

and

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. Whilst in the UK he lived in London House, a

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for

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students. There he formed lifelong friendships with Sinha Basnayake, Desmond Fernando, Dr. Tony Gabriel, Palitha Kirthisinghe, Ajit Jayaratne, Dr. Lal Jayawardena, Dr. Mano Muttucumaru and Dr. Gihan Tennekoon. Ramanathan married Mano, daughter of Suppiah Saravanamuttu, a lawyer from Colombo.

Career

Ramanathan worked for the British

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

for a while before returning to Ceylon. He became 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 ...

of the Supreme Court and practised law. He joined the Attorney-General's Department in the late 1970s as a crown counsel. He was appointed to the High Court in 1978 and served in Matara,

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 ...

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 Colombo. In 1985 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal. He was later promoted to President of the Court of Appeal. He was then appointed to the Supreme Court. Ramanathan was elected Master of the Bench by

. He was also president of the British Scholars' Association, president of the Medical-Legal Society, member of the council of the Indo-Pacific Association of Law and Medicine and a member of the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...

in The Hague. Ramanathan was awarded the

Deshamanya Deshamanya (; ; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a civil honour. It is awarded for "''highly meritorious service''", and is conventionally used as a title or prefi ...

title, the second highest civilian honour in Sri Lanka, by

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 ...

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

Later life

After retiring from the Supreme Court Ramanathan was appointed the 4th

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of the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

in 2000. He was appointed

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the new

Uva Wellassa University Uva Wellassa University (abbreviated as UWU) is a Sri Lankan national university located in the city of Badulla. The university was established in 2005 and is one of Sri Lanka's national universities, serving the Uva Province. It comprises six ...

in July 2005. He was also chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and trustee of several religious organisations including Sri Ponnambalam Vaneswarar Kovil in Colombo. Ramanathan was a member of the kennel club and regularly displayed his dogs at shows. One of his dachshunds won the "Champion of Champions" title at a dog show in

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

in the 1990s. He was also a

Rotarian Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and pe ...

and a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Ramanathan died on 7 December 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramanathan, P. 1932 births 2006 deaths Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter Ceylonese advocates Deshamanya Governors of Western Province, Sri Lanka Judges of the high courts of Sri Lanka Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration People from Colombo Presidents of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka Puisne justices of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan judges of international courts and tribunals Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan expatriates in India