Ponnuduraiswamy Sriskandarajah (8 February 1905 – 24 December 1968) was a leading

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

lawyer and judge. He was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

, District Judge and

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

judge.

Early life and family

Sriskandarajah was born on 8 February 1905. He was the son of Ponnuduraiswamy and Katpakam, daughter of Murugupillai,

vidane Native Headmen System was an integral part of the administration of the island of Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) under the successive European colonial powers, namely the Portuguese Empire, the Dutch East India Company and the British Empire. Na ...

Thondaimanaru Thondaimanaru is a small town in Sri Lanka. It is located within Northern Province. See also * List of towns in Northern Province, Sri Lanka Northern Province is a province of Sri Lanka, containing the Jaffna District, Kilinochchi District, Ma ...

in northern province of

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He was educated at

Udupiddy American Mission College Udupiddy American Mission College ( ta, உடுப்பிட்டி அமெரிக்கன் மிஷன் கல்லூரி ''Uṭuppiṭṭi Amerikkaṉ Micaṉ Kallūri'') is a national school in Udupiddy, Sri Lanka. It w ...

Jaffna College __NOTOC__ Jaffna College is a private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries. History In 1816 American missionaries founded the ...

Jaffna Central College Jaffna Central College ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணம் மத்திய கல்லூரி ''Yāḻppāṇam Mattiya Kallūri'', JCC) is a national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1816 by British Methodist missionaries, it ...

and

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

from where he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

in the first division. After school he entered

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

and graduated with a BA

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

He then joined

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and passed out as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

. Sriskandarajah married Kanmani, daughter of M. Visuvalingam. They had two sons (Sribavan and Srigugan) and two daughters (Suseela and Indra). Suseela married

A. T. Moorthy Arambamoorthy Thedchana Moorthy (10 August 1928 – 1 April 2008) was a Sri Lankan Tamil people, Sri Lankan Tamil diplomat and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Early life and family ...

, later High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom.

Career

Sriskandarajah was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1932. He joined the judicial service in 1938 and served in a number of positions:

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, District Judge in

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

(1947), District Judge in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

(1954) and

Commissioner of Assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

(1960). He was a

judge between 1962 and 1967.

Later life

After retirement Sriskandarajah was involved in social and religious activities. He was president of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress from 1965 until his death. Sriskandarajah died on 24 December 1968 at the age of 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sriskandarajah, P. 1905 births 1968 deaths Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Jaffna Central College Alumni of Jaffna College Alumni of the Ceylon University College Ceylonese advocates District Courts of Sri Lanka judges Magistrates of Sri Lanka People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan judges Sri Lankan lawyers