Sarath Ambepitiya
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Sarath Ambepitiya | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the High Court of Sri Lanka in Colombo | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 November 1946 |
| Died | 19 November 2004 (aged 58) |
| Manner of death | Assassination by gunshot |
| Alma mater | Royal College Colombo, Sri Lanka Law College |
| Profession | lawyer, judge |
Sarath Ambepitiya (November 19, 1946 – November 19, 2004) was a Sri Lankan jurist. He was serving as a Judge of the Colombo High Court when he was assassinated. The assassination, orchestrated by a drug lord sentenced by the judge, gripped the nation and forced the government to crack down on organized crime.
Educated at the Royal College, Colombo,[1] Ambepitiya entered the Sri Lanka Law College to study law and was called to the bar as an attorney at law.
Career
After practicing law for some time, he joined the judiciary in 1977 and served as a Magistrate in many parts of the island. Later he was appointed Chief Magistrate of Colombo and then Additional District Judge of Colombo. Ambepitiya's first appointment as a High Court Judge was in Galle, after which he was appointed as a High Court Judge in Colombo. He was noted for his fearlessness in rendering strong judgments and taking up cases that other judges feared to adjudicate upon. Ambepitiya presided over many important criminal cases including the Central Bank bombing case.