Father petitions Supreme Court seeking compensation for son's death in KDU trip accident

The Supreme Court has scheduled September 11 to consider a fundamental rights petition filed by a father seeking compensation for the death of his son and two other students in a bus accident during a field trip of Kotelawala Defence University. The court made this decision when the petition was called yesterday (15).

The petition was considered before a three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Messrs. Arjuna Obeyesekere, Dr. Sobhitha Rajakaruna, and Menaka Wijesundara. After considering the facts presented, the bench ordered the driver of the bus to file any objections on that day.

This petition was filed before the court by a father named Prasad Nuwan, a resident of Rambukkana. His son, Lohitha Minura Wahalawatta, who was studying for a Quantity Surveying degree at Kotelawala Defence University, along with a group of students, faced this accident while on a field trip in the Badulla area in November 2024. The petitioner states that three students, including his son, died when the bus they were traveling in met with an accident in the Ambagahahandiya area.

The father alleges in his petition that this fatal accident occurred due to the severe negligence of the respondents, and that his fundamental rights have been violated as a result. For this reason, he requests the court to allow the petition to be heard and subsequently to order fair compensation for the harm caused. The respondents named in this case are the Vice-Chancellor of Kotelawala Defence University, its Senate, and the driver of the accident-involved bus.

When the petition was called, President's Counsel Chandaka Jayasundara appeared on behalf of the petitioner father, instructed by Attorney-at-Law Sajuni Seneviratne, while Deputy Solicitor General Rajeev Gunathilake appeared in court on behalf of the Attorney General.