The Presidential Secretariat has been issued a notice to appear before the Information Commission on May 28, 2025, for failing to provide requested information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act within the stipulated timeframe.
The summons follows an appeal lodged due to the Secretariat’s lack of response to a request seeking details about President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s personal staff, including their salaries, allowances, and vehicles, all funded by public money.
The initial RTI application was submitted to the Presidential Secretariat on January 29, 2025. However, the applicant escalated the matter after more than two months without a proper response.
The requested information includes the number of individuals recruited or assigned to the 9th Executive President’s staff, their designations, the monthly expenditure on their salaries and allowances, the number and types of vehicles allocated to them, and who is authorized to use these vehicles.
Additionally, the request seeks details about the ministries assigned to officials appointed for the presidential term only, along with the vehicle numbers and types provided to each institution and ministry since September 23, 2024.
According to the Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016, public authorities must acknowledge receipt of an information request. The Presidential Secretariat did acknowledge receipt on January 30, 2025. However, the Act mandates the provision of information within 14 working days, or notification of the reasons for any delay. The failure to adhere to these statutory requirements led to the appeal against the designated officer of the Presidential Secretariat.
Notably, information regarding the personal staff of previous presidents has been obtained and published under the RTI Act, suggesting no legal impediment to the disclosure of the currently requested details by the Presidential Secretariat.
