C V Vigneswaran

Early life and family

Vigneswaran was born on 23 October 1939 in Hulftsdorp, Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. His parents were born in Manipay in northern Ceylon and he had two sisters. His father Canagasabapathy was a public official who worked in several parts of the country. Vigneswaran's grandfather was a cousin of statesmen P. Ramanathan and P. Arunachalam.

Vigneswaran's father's work meant that the family moved often. Vigneswaran spent the first nine years of his life in Kurunegala and studied at Christchurch College. The family then moved to Anuradhapura where Vigneswaran attended Holy Family Convent. Vigneswaran joined Royal College, Colombo aged 11. After school Vigneswaran obtained BA from the University of London and LLB from the University of Ceylon. He then joined Ceylon Law College, qualifying as a proctor and an advocate. He was President of the Law Students’ Union at the college in 1962.

One of Vigneswaran's sons is married to the daughter of former government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara. His other son is married to the niece of former MP Keseralal Gunasekera.

Vigneswaran is also a follower of Swami Premananda whom he has compared to Jesus and has requested that Narendra Modi release three Premananda followers convicted of raping 13 girls, including minors, and conspiracy to murder.

Legal career

Vigneswaran joined the Judicial Service on 7 May 1979. He served as a magistrate and District Judge in Batticaloa, Chavakachcheri and Mallakam. He became District Judge for Colombo in January 1987. He was appointed to the High Court in 1988, serving in Northern, Eastern, North Central, Uva and Western provinces. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1995.

Vigneswaran was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2001. He retired in October 2004.

Political career

In April 2013 it was reported that Vigneswaran had been chosen by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to be its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming election to Northern Provincial Council (NPC). The reports were denied by the TNA. However, in July 2013, after nominations were called for the provincial council election, the TNA announced that Vigneswaran would be its chief ministerial candidate in the Northern Province. He contested the provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the NPC. Vigneswaran received his chief ministerial appointment letter from Governor G. A. Chandrasiri on 1 October 2013. He took his oath as chief minister and provincial councillor in front of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat on 7 October 2013. On 15 November 2013, he received the Prime Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, in Jaffna. It was the first time the political head of another country had visited Jaffna since independence from colonial rule in 1948.

In 2015 he lashed out at the concentration of power within the TNA and has been reported to be in conflict with the TNA's leaders R.Sampanthan, M.A.Sumanthiran and Mavai Senathirajah. In the run up to the August 17 parliamentary elections Vigneswaran appealed to the Tamils to vote for genuine Tamil nationalists. the statement was seen as an endorsement of the radical Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF). There were reports that TNA which was taking a much more moderate and accommodative line on the Tamil question is heading for a split with Wigneswaran who was taking more radical stance. TNA leaders have also been complaining about Vigneswaran’s administrative incompetence due in part to his failure to interact with Ministers, Departmental Secretaries and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.