Somasiri v. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation – sllr 1992 volume 1 page 039

In the case between Somasiri (Plaintiff-Appellant) and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (Defendant-Respondent), the court addressed the issue of whether jurisdiction was properly exercised based on the defendant’s principal place of business and the location at which the cause of action arose. It was held that the averment of the defendant’s principal place of business at Kollupitiya is sufficient to confer jurisdiction to the District Court of Colombo, and that the decision to transfer the plaintiff, together with the issuance of the relevant letter, constituted the cause of action at that location. This holding reaffirmed the legal principle that the proper forum for a corporate defendant is determined by the place of its principal place of business or where the cause of action arises, as go