Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka held yesterday (28 February) that the provisions of the RTI Act applies to Members of Parliament (MPs) and its prevails over the provisions of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law.
This is landmark judgement was issued by the COA bench consisting of lordships Sampath Abeykoon and P. Kumararatnam.
Justice Sampath Abeykoon, in his judgement highlighted that MPs are elected by the public and has a duty to uphold the law and to set an example for the public. Therefore, public has a right to know whether MPs have followed the law, in this case whether the MPs have made the relevant declarations under the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law, the only way for public to access this information is through the RTI procedure.
This judgement was issued when the decision by RTI Commission in favour of journalist Chamara Sampath requiring Parliament to release a list of MPs who have made declarations regarding their assets and Liabilities was appealed by Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament, K.A. Rohanadeera and the Secretary-General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake against Journalist Chamara Sampath and the Right to Information Commission