Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Satchi Ponnambalam (27 January 1935 – 31 January 1999) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and judge.

Early life and family

Ponnambalam was born on 27 January 1935. He was the son of R. Ponnambalam and Sinnamah Ammal from

Chundikuli Chundikuli ( ta, சுண்டிக்குளி, translit=Cuṇṭikkuḷi; si, චුන්දිකුලි ''Cundikuli'') is a suburb of the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. Chundikuli means "the pond of the cunti plant" in Tamil a ...

in northern Ceylon. He was educated at

St. John's College, Jaffna '' , motto_translation = Light Shines in the Darkness , location = , streetaddress = Main Street, Chundikuli , region = , city = Jaffna, Jaffna District , state = , p ...

. After school he entered University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1955. Ponnambalam married Vasantha (Vasi), daughter of V. Sittampalam. They had three daughters (Sumanthi, Jamuna and Menaka).

Career

Ponnambalam joined the legal profession after graduation, becoming an advocate and solicitor (England). He was then state advocate and senior state advocate in

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. He then moved to

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in 1981 to serve as a magistrate. He was promoted to chief magistrate before joining the

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as a

puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

in 1985. He retired in 1993. 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). He died on 31 January 1999 at his home in

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponnambalam, Satchi 1935 births 1999 deaths Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Belizean people of Sri Lankan descent Ceylonese advocates People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil judges Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Supreme Court of Belize justices