Herbert Thambiah
Chief Justice of Sri Lanka in 1991
title: "Herbert Thambiah" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1926-births", "1992-deaths", "20th-century-sri-lankan-lawyers", "alumni-of-jaffna-central-college", "alumni-of-s.-thomas'-college,-mount-lavinia", "alumni-of-sri-lanka-law-college", "alumni-of-the-university-of-ceylon", "ceylonese-advocates", "chief-justices-of-sri-lanka", "judges-of-the-court-of-appeal-of-sri-lanka", "faculty-of-hartley-college", "people-from-northern-province,-sri-lanka", "sri-lankan-tamil-people", "sri-lankan-teachers"] description: "Chief Justice of Sri Lanka in 1991" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Thambiah" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Chief Justice of Sri Lanka in 1991 ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Herbert Thambiah |
| office | 39th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka |
| appointer | Ranasinghe Premadasa |
| term_start | 1991 |
| term_end | 1991 |
| predecessor | Parinda Ranasinghe |
| successor | G. P. S. de Silva |
| office2 | Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka |
| term_start2 | 1984 |
| term_end2 | 1992 |
| birth_date | |
| death_date | |
| alma_mater | Ceylon Law College |
| University of Ceylon | |
| profession | Lawyer |
| blank1 | Ethnicity |
| data1 | Sri Lankan Tamil |
| :: |
|name = Herbert Thambiah |native_name = |native_name_lang = |honorific-suffix = |image = |imagesize = |office = 39th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka |nominator = |appointer = Ranasinghe Premadasa |term_start = 1991 |term_end = 1991 |predecessor = Parinda Ranasinghe |successor = G. P. S. de Silva |office2 = Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka |term_start2 = 1984 |term_end2 = 1992 |predecessor2 = |successor2 = |birth_date = |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |citizenship = |nationality = |party = |otherparty = |spouse = |partner = |relations = |children = |residence = |alma_mater = Ceylon Law College University of Ceylon |occupation = |profession = Lawyer |religion = |website = |footnotes = |blank1 = Ethnicity |data1 = Sri Lankan Tamil
Herbert Dharmarajah Thambiah (14 October 1926 – 4 October 1992) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and judge. He was a Court of Appeal judge, Supreme Court judge and the 39th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.
Early life and family
Thambiah was born on 14 October 1926. He was the son of C. R. Thambiah, a lawyer from Jaffna in northern Ceylon. He was educated at Jaffna Central College and St. Thomas' College, Colombo. After school he entered University of Ceylon and graduated with an honours degree in economics. He taught at Hartley College for a period. He then entered Ceylon Law College, obtaining a first class in the final examinations. He became an advocate in 1954.
Thambiah married Ranji Appathuari. They had one daughter - Savithri.
Career
After qualifying Thambiah practised law for a while before joining the judicial service.
Thambiah died on 4 October 1992 at the age of 65.
References
References
- Arumugam, S.. (1997). "Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon".
- "Overview". Judicial Service Commission Secretariat.
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