Yakumbuge Salma vs K.A. Tissa Kasthuriarachchi – CA 769/1997(F)-2011

In the case between Yakumbuge Salma (Plaintiff/Appellant) and K.A. Tissa Kasthuriarachchi, R. B. Gunawardena, and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (Defendants/Respondents), the court addressed the issue of liability for the death of the plaintiff’s husband in a bus accident and the applicability of the maxim *Res Ipsa Loquitur* where direct evidence or eyewitness testimony was lacking. It was held that the circumstances justified the presumption of negligence against both the driver and the owner due to the bus’s unfit condition, reaffirming the principle that *Res Ipsa Loquitur* can shift the burden to defendants when unexplained accidents involve mechanical unfitness. This decision relied on the examination of relevant legal principles and case authorities, emphasizing the employer’s vica