In its judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that the respondent parties, including the Road Development Authority (RDA), did not violate the petitioner’s fundamental rights in relation to the Passara bus accident in 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 14 passengers and injuries to 35 individuals.
This Fundamental Rights petition was filed by three children and their grandparents, alleging that the RDA’s actions and inactions contributed to the accident and the death of their parents.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition, stating that the respondents did not violate Article 12(1) of the Constitution.
On March 20, 2021, at approximately 6:45 a.m., a private bus carrying around 60 passengers from Lunugala to Colombo veered off the road and fell into a 250-foot precipice near the 13th milepost on the Lunugala-Passara Road.
The petitioners argued that the main cause of their parents’ death was the RDA’s actions, inactions, or omissions, and claimed that the respondents infringed upon their parents’ fundamental rights.
According to the petitioners, the road had been partially blocked by a boulder that had fallen onto the road due to a landslide four months prior to the accident.
The petitioners also acknowledged that the negligence of the bus driver contributed to their parents’ deaths, but they argued that if it weren’t for the respondents’ inactions or omissions, the accident would not have occurred. Therefore, they held the respondents responsible for maintaining the roads.
The Supreme Court noted that the RDA had taken steps to clear more than 40 landslides and maintain the roads since the day of the landslides.
The RDA provided an explanation as to why they were unable to remove the boulder at the v.
