| P. Ramanathan | |
| Office1: | Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka |
| Office2: | 4th Governor, Western Province |
| Term Start2: | 21 January 2000 |
| Term End2: | 1 February 2002 |
| Predecessor2: | K. Vignarajah |
| Successor2: | Alavi Moulana |
| Office3: | 1st Chancellor, Uva Wellassa University |
| Term Start3: | 27 July 2005 |
| Term End3: | 7 December 2006 |
| Birth Date: | 1 September 1932 |
| Spouse: | Mano Ramanathan (née Saravanamuttu) |
| Alma Mater: | St. Joseph's College, Colombo Montfort School St David's College |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
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]
See also: Ponnambalam-Coomaraswamy family. 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 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 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 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 dachshunds 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]