[1] He was the son of R. Ponnambalam and Sinnamah Ammal from Chundikuli in northern Ceylon.

[1] Ponnambalam married Vasantha (Vasi), daughter of V.

[1][2][3] Ponnambalam joined the legal profession after graduation, becoming an advocate and solicitor (England).

[1][2] He was promoted to chief magistrate before joining the Supreme Court of Belize as a puisne judge in 1985.

[1][2] 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).