RTI is superior to Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law, Court of Appeal tells Parliament in landmark judgement

The provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act are superior to the provisions of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law, the Court of Appeal said today.

The Court of Appeal thereby dismissed an appeal filed by the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

The appeal had been submitted to the Court of Appeal by the Parliament in 2021, requesting to annul an order issued by the Right to Information Commission to the Parliament asking them to release information that would include a list of the MPs, who had produced the asset and liability declarations.

The judgment was delivered by a two-judge-bench comprising Justice Sampath B. Abeykoon and Justice P Kumararatnam.

Journalist Chamara Sampath had submitted the RTI request seeking a list of the members of parliament who had provided the asset liability declarations.

The request was rejected by Parliamet and the journalist had appealed against the decision at RTI Commission.

The commission after an investigation, ordered Parliament to release the information sought by the journalisr. However, Secretary General of Parliament had gone to the Court of Appeal against the order of the RTI Commission