• Pertains to rejection of 138 info. request appeals by ‘victims’ of Mirigama-K’gala Central Expressway 

The Centre for Society and Religion's Research Team member Tharindu Iranga Jayawardhana has filed two petitions before the Court of Appeal (CA), claiming that the Right to Information (RTI) Commission has violated the RTI Act, No. 12 of 2016 and the relevant rules gazetted under it by dismissing 138 appeals related to information requests made by 138 families affected by the construction of the Central Expressway's section from Mirigama to Kurunegala.

The petitioner has sought an order invalidating the Commission's decision, and directing the Road Development Authority to release the relevant information to the applicants.

Noting that if the Commission drafts new rules regarding the RTI, they should be implemented only after being published by the subject Minister in the gazette, the petitioner claimed however that the Commission has altered the rules concerning appeals and revised related forms without following this process. By doing so, he accused the Commission of having breached several rules and provisions outlined in the RTI Act including rules pertaining to the appeal process. "According to the general procedure, the RTI Commission should conclude the hearing of an appeal and deliver the verdict within one month of its submission. However, the Commission dismissed these appeals without considering them after nine months from the date of their submission. The Commission initially decided to hear the appeals, and then dismissed them in violation of the relevant rules," he said, while speaking to The Daily Morning.

Nearly 400 residents near the said phase of the Central Expressway recently claimed that their lives were in danger due to the damage caused to their houses during the construction of the Expressway, and sought immediate relief from the Government. They said that the relevant standards had not been followed during the construction, and that the same had resulted in their houses, which they said were located within a distance of about 300 metres from the Expressway, being damaged. The information requests filed by them seeking information pertaining to the standards followed during it, and the related compensation process, had been dismissed by the RTI Commission.