Satchi Ponnambalam
{{Short description|Sri Lankan lawyer and judge (1935–1999)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = Justice
|name = Satchi Ponnambalam
|native_name =
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|image = Satchi Ponnambalam.jpg
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|office1 = Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize
|term_start1 = 1985
|term_end1 = 1993
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|birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|01|27|df=yes}}
|birth_place =
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|01|31|1935|01|27|df=yes}}
|death_place = Belize City
|citizenship =
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|alma_mater = University of Ceylon, Peradeniya
|occupation =
|profession = Lawyer
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|footnotes =
|blank1 = Ethnicity
|data1 = Sri Lankan Tamil
}}
Justice 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.{{cite book|last=Arumugam|first=S.|title=Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon|url=http://noolaham.net/project/19/1810/1810.pdf|year=1997|pages=141–142|authorlink=S. Arumugam}} He was the son of R. Ponnambalam and Sinnamah Ammal from Chundikuli in northern Ceylon. He was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna. After school he entered University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1955.
Ponnambalam married Vasantha (Vasi), daughter of V. Sittampalam.{{cite news|title=Former Supreme Court Judge dies|url=http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/23622|work=News 5|date=1 February 1999}}{{cite magazine|title=Classified Ads|magazine=Tamil Times|date=15 February 1999|volume=XVIII|issue=2|page=30|url=http://noolaham.net/project/36/3574/3574.pdf}} 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 Zambia. He then moved to Belize in 1981 to serve as a magistrate. He was promoted to chief magistrate before joining the Supreme Court of Belize as a puisne judge 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 Belize City.
References
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Category:Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna
Category:Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya)
Category:Belizean people of Sri Lankan descent
Category:People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka
Category:People from British Ceylon