Honorific-Prefix: | Justice |
Satchi Ponnambalam | |
Office1: | Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize |
Term Start1: | 1985 |
Term End1: | 1993 |
Birth Date: | 27 January 1935 |
Death Place: | Belize City |
Alma Mater: | University of Ceylon, Peradeniya |
Profession: | Lawyer |
Blank1: | Ethnicity |
Data1: | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Justice Satchi Ponnambalam (27 January 1935 – 31 January 1999) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and judge.
Ponnambalam was born on 27 January 1935.[1] He was the son of R. Ponnambalam and Sinnamah Ammal from Chundikuli in northern Ceylon.[1] He was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna.[1] After school he entered University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1955.[1]
Ponnambalam married Vasantha (Vasi), daughter of V. Sittampalam.[1] [2] [3] They had three daughters (Sumanthi, Jamuna and Menaka).[1] [2] [3]
Ponnambalam joined the legal profession after graduation, becoming an advocate and solicitor (England).[1] He was then state advocate and senior state advocate in Zambia.[1] He then moved to Belize in 1981 to serve as a magistrate.[1] [2] He was promoted to chief magistrate before joining the Supreme Court of Belize as a puisne judge in 1985.[1] [2] He retired in 1993.[1] [2]
Ponnambalam worked as a legal consultant, participated at Tamil conferences and wrote two books: Dependent Capitalism in Crisis in Sri Lanka, 1948-79 (1980) and Sri Lanka : The National Question and the Tamil Liberation Struggle (1983).[1] [2] He died on 31 January 1999 at his home in Belize City.[2] [3]
. Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. 1997. 141–142. S. Arumugam.