Right to Information bill to be presented in Parliament on March 20

TheRight to Information bill is to be ready by March 20 to be presented in Parliament, a member of the working committee preparing the Bill, K. W. Janaranjana said.

He was addressing a press conference organized by the National Movement for Social Justice at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, on Sunday.

The Bill was to be presented in Parliament on February 20 under the government's 100-day program, but this did not happen. The delay was the result of various technicalities and delay in action by the government, according to Janaranjana.

The public will have the right under Article 126 of the Constitution to seek redress from the Supreme Court against any action that deny or prevent them from obtaining information from government institutions once the Right to Information Bill is passed by Parliament, he said. Right to Information is to become a fundamental right in Sri Lanka for the first time under Chapter Three of the Constitution.

The purpose of the Act is to allow the public to fully participate in the democratic process..

"We are planning to meet regularly within the next couple of days to finalize the initial draft. We have proposed the Media Ministry that this draft may be placed before the public to obtain their views. Should there be responses of value and importance, we shall find a place for them in the draft during the final drafting phase," he said.