| Deshamanya Justice P. Ramanathan |
|
|---|---|
| Judge, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka | |
| 4th Governor, Western Province | |
| In office 21 January 2000 – 1 February 2002 |
|
| Preceded by | K. Vignarajah |
| Succeeded by | Alavi Moulana |
| 1st Chancellor, Uva Wellassa University | |
| In office 27 July 2005 – 7 December 2006 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 September 1932 |
| Died | 7 December 2006 (aged 74) |
| Alma mater | St. Joseph's College, Colombo Montfort School St. David's College |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Hindu |
| Ethnicity | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Deshamanya Justice Pathmanathan Ramanathan (1 September 1932 – 7 December 2006) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and judge. Known as Rama, he was a High Court judge, Court of Appeal judge, provincial governor, university chancellor and a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.[1][2]
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Ramanathan was born on 1 September 1932.[1] He was the son of Sangarapillai Pathmanathan, a broker and chairman of the Low-Country Products Association, and Srimani, grand daughter of Ponnambalam Ramanathan, a leading politician during British colonial rule.[1][3] Ramanathan was educated at St. Joseph's College, Colombo and Montford High School in southern India.[1][3][4][5] He was a keen sportsman. After school Ramanathan went to the UK and studied at the St. David's College, University of Wales and Gray's Inn.[1][3][4][5] Whilst in the UK he lived in London House, a hall of residence for Commonwealth students.[1] There he formed lifelong friendships with luminaries such as Sinha Basnayake, Desmond Fernando, Dr. Tony Gabriel, Palitha Kirthisinghe, Ajit Jayaratne, Dr. Lal Jayawardena, Dr. Mano Muttucumaru and Dr. Gihan Tennekoon.[1]
Ramanathan married Mano, daughter of Suppiah Saravanamuttu, a lawyer from Colombo.[6]
Ramanathan worked for the British Inland Revenue for a while before returning to Ceylon.[3] He became an advocate of the Supreme Court and practised law.[1][5] He joined the Attorney-General's Department in the late 1970s as a crown counsel.[1][3][4][5] He was appointed to the High Court in 1978 and served in Matara, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Colombo.[1][3][4][5] In 1985 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal.[1][3][5] He was later promoted to President of the Court of Appeal.[3][5] He was then appointed to the Supreme Court.[1][3][4][5]
Ramanathan was elected Master of the Bench by the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn.[3] 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 in the The Hague.[3][4] Ramanathan was awarded the Deshamanya title, the second highest civilian honour in Sri Lanka, by President Chandrika Kumaratunga.[3][4]
After retiring from the Supreme Court Ramanathan was appointed the 4th governor of the Western Province in 2000.[1][3][5] He was appointed chancellor of the new Uva Wellassa University in July 2005.[7] 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.[1][3]
Ramanathan was a member of the kennel club and regularly displayed his dogs at shows.[8] One of his daschunds won the "Champion of Champions" title at a dog show in Kandy in the 1990s. He was also a rotarian and a freemason.[1]
Ramanathan died on 7 December 2006.[1][9][10]
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