Practical Understanding of Vicarious Liability

In our internship at a civil court in Delhi, our supervisor once took us through the judgment of M. Narasimham vs. K. Sreedher (2003) 4 SCC 758. I've read about vicarious liability in textbooks, but the nuance of it all came through when I saw a case where a bus conductor was found liable for the negligence of the driver. The SC held that a master-servant relationship can be inferred even if the driver is appointed on a contract basis. What caught my attention was the court's emphasis on the 'power to control' test - that if A has the right to direct B as to how to behave, A is the master. It's not just about the contractual relationship, but actual control over the agent's actions.