Provisions of Right to Information Act relevant to Parliamentarians as well, court rules

Parliament of Sri Lanka

The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka has ruled that the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act are relevant to Parliamentarians as well and that they are legally bound to declare their assets and liabilities.

The ruling on the scope of the RTI Act was delivered by a two-member Appeals Court bench consisting of Justices Sampath Abeykoon and P. Kumararatnam.

The determination was issued after an application was filed by the Secretary-General of Parliament who challenged the decision of the Right to Information Commission who had ruled that the information requested by a journalist regarding the names of Members of Parliament who have submitted their assets declarations should be released.