Rear Admiral Sarath Palitha Fernando, PC, VNF is a Sri Lankan lawyer.
Entering the Sri Lanka Law College he passed the preliminary and final examinations with First Class Honours, gaining the Prize for Commercial Law and the Hector Jayawardena Gold Medal.
After taking oaths as an attorney at law he joined the Attorney General's Department as an acting State Counsel in 1980, later becoming a Senior State Counsel in 1989 and Deputy Solicitor General in 1997.
Having joined the Volunteer Naval Force in 1989 as a Commander, in 2004 he was appointed Judge Advocate of the Sri Lanka Navy, to head its legal branch.
[4] He is a visiting lecturer at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Open University of Sri Lanka and a faculty member of Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies.