Court dismisses People’s Bank appeal on RTI disclosure

THE Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal filed by People’s Bank, affirming a directive of the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) requiring the bank to release information sought by a customer under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, subject to redaction where necessary.

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The Court held that the information requested did not fall within the exemptions under the Act and could not be lawfully denied.

The judgment was delivered on 20 January by a Bench comprising R. Gurusinghe and Dr. S. Premachandra, dismissing the appeal filed by People’s Bank against a decision of the RTIC dated 15 December 2022.

The case arose from a request made by a citizen, who was also a customer of People’s Bank and the managing partner of a partnership, M.H.B. De Silva and Company. He sought copies of internal audit or inquiry reports relating to the partnership’s accounts, ledger accounts for the relevant partnership accounts, and ledger details of a suspense account, covering the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2019.