| Manicavasagar Vaithalingam | |
| Office: | Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon |
| Term Start: | December 17, 1964 |
| Office1: | Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon |
| Term Start1: | April 1980 |
| Term End1: | March 1985 |
| Office2: | Chancellor of the University of Jaffna |
| Term Start2: | January 1, 1979 |
| Term End2: | 1984 |
| Appointer: | Sirimavo Bandaranaike |
| Birth Date: | December 17, 1906 |
| Birth Place: | Colombo, British Ceylon |
| Death Date: | December 27, 1993 |
| Death Place: | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality: | Sri Lankan citizenship |
| Spouse: | Valamba Manicavasagar née Selliah |
| Relations: | Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Arunachalam Mahadeva, D. M. Swaminathan Siva Selliah |
| Children: | Arunachala Manicavasagar, Nirmala Ragunanthan née Manicavasagar |
| Residence: | 78 Ward Place, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Alma Mater: | Colombo Law College, Royal College Colombo |
Deshamanya Manicavasagar Vaithalingam (December 17, 1906 - December 12, 1993) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Chancellor of the University of Jaffna[1] and Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon.[2]
Vaithalingam was born on December 17, 1906, to prominent Colombo stockbroker Mudaliyar Arunachala Vaithalingam. Both his paternal and maternal family hails from the affluent town of Manipay, Jaffna. He began his education at the Royal College, Colombo[3] where he excelled in academics and went on to obtain a degree in law from the Colombo Law College.
Vaithalingam joined the judicial service 9 years after being called to the bar, as an Acting Magistrate in Mallakan. For over two decades, he functioned as a Magistrate and District Judge in different parts of the island and in October, 1962, he was appointed a Commissioner of Assize. He continued as such until his appointment to the Supreme Court of Ceylon in 1964 by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
Mentioned below are a few of the numerous judgments in which Justice Vaithalingam was involved. All of the cases below are from the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and no judgments from lower courts have been included.[4]
After retiring from the Supreme Court, Vaithalingam was appointed Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon and was then appointed as the first Chancellor of the University of Jaffna.
In retirement, he was a member of both the Citizen Committee and the Delimitation Committee among many others. A devote Hindu, he also served as President of the Educational Society for many years.[5]
Vaithalingam was appointed as the first Chancellor of the University of Jaffna by the President of Sri Lanka with effect from the first of January, 1979. In the course of his tenure, which lasted half a decade, he presided over the first convocation held at the Veerasingam Hall on the 13th of September 1980 and also delivered the very first convocation address. He was also conferred with a Doctorate by the University.[6]
Vaithalingam was awarded the Deshamanya Award within two years of its founding in 1987.[7] He was the first Sri Lankan Tamil to receive the award and the appearance of common ground between the government and a prominent Tamil caused an adverse reaction from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE called on him to refuse the reward, if he valued his life; however, Vaithalingam defied the outfit and accepted the honour.
In the citizens committee chaired by his good friend and former colleague on the bench, O. L. de Kretser, he worked on the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, on the Tragedy of January Tenth 1974 along with Bishop Sabapathy Kulendran of the Church of South India in Jaffna.[8]
Vaithalingam married Valamba, the eldest daughter of Nannithamby Selliah of Rosmead Place - son of Visva Udayar Sangarapillai Nannithamby, Broker of Mackwood & Co. & his wife Sellam, daughter of Kandarthamby Kandiah (Chattambiar) - and sister of Justice Siva Selliah, High Court Judge.[9]
They have two children: (1)Arunachala Manicavasagar, JP, who married Skandaleela - daughter of Proctor Sivakolundu Rajendran (JP, NP) and his wife Kamalambigai, youngest daughter of Stowell Elaithamby Murgesampillai - and his younger sister, (2)Nirmala Ragunanthan, who was married to the late Ragunanthan Thambimutha, Managing Director of Raniyo (Pvt) Ltd. Both of his children continue to live in Colombo while his grandchildren reside in North America.