Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis yesterday (9) dismissed the case filed by the Right To Information Commission (RTI) against the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar of the Kelaniya University.
The case had been filed under the offence of failure to implement the orders of the Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016.
It is of significance that in the seven years that the Information Commission was established, the first case brought by the Commission was defeated.
The Information Commission had filed this case against the Vice-Chancellor, of the Kelaniya University Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva and Kelaniya University Registrar K.K. Dharmathilaka for not providing information requested as per Section 3 of the Information Act,on July 8, 2020 by Professor Prashanthi Narangoda.
This case was filed under Sections 32 (1) and 32 (3) of the Act for the offence of not providing information regarding an investigation conducted in 2018 in connection with a dispute between two lecturers of the Kelaniya University.
President’s Counsel Sarath Jayamanna, who appeared for the defence, submitting objections pointed out that although the Commission had filed the case under section 136 (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code, only a peace officer or the Police can file a case under the relevant section.
He also said that since the defendants were not in the respective positions at the time of the relevant incident, it is wrong to prosecute them and instead the prosecution should be against the
University.When this case was heard yesterday (9), defence lawyers presented four objections and the Magistrate who focused on only one of them stated that, that fact alone is enough to reject the case.
The Magistrate stated that although the Commission has the power to prosecute under Section 39 (4) of the Act, the case has not been filed as per Section 11 (2). The Magistrate said that although
the Commission was given the power to prosecute according to the Act, this case was filed by the
Director General instead, and the public seal should be applied to the document stating the decision to prosecute, but the plaintiffs had not been concerned about it.
The Magistrate further said that the complaint is dismissed considering the defence’s objections on this point, but that it does not prevent the re-filing of the case. A panel of lawyers appeared for the defence along with President’s Counsel Sarath Jayamanna.
Chandana Jayaweera