Court of Appeal Rules Candidates Can Access Answer Scripts | RTI Victory Sri Lanka 2026
The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka has delivered a landmark judgment affirming that examination candidates have the legal right to access and inspect their evaluated answer scripts under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The ruling was delivered while dismissing a revision application filed by the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) against an earlier order issued by the RTI Commission. This decision is expected to strengthen transparency and accountability within the Sri Lankan examination and higher education system.
Candidates Have the Right to Inspect Their Answer Scripts
📌 Case Details
- Petitioner: Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)
- Revision Application No: RTI/01/2024
- Bench: Justice Dr. Sumudu Premachandra and Justice R. Gurusinghe
- Background: A student who sat for the LLB Entrance Examination requested access to her evaluated answer scripts and marks under the Right to Information Act.
- University Position: OUSL argued that releasing answer scripts would affect the confidentiality and integrity of examinations.
- Court Decision: The Court of Appeal upheld the RTI Commission decision and confirmed that candidates have the right to inspect their evaluated answer scripts.
⚖️ Why This Judgment is Important
This judgment is considered a major step toward strengthening transparency, accountability, and fairness within Sri Lanka’s education system.
- Students can now seek access to their own evaluated answer scripts.
- Public educational institutions cannot automatically deny such requests under the RTI Act.
- The ruling promotes trust and transparency in examination evaluations.
- It reinforces the public’s right to access personal evaluation records.
අභියාචනාධිකරණය විසින් ලබා දුන් මෙම වැදගත් තීන්දුව අනුව, විභාග අපේක්ෂකයන්ට තමන් පෙනී සිටි විභාගවල ඇගයීමට ලක් කළ පිළිතුරු පත්ර ලබා ගැනීමට නීත්යානුකූල අයිතියක් ඇති බව තහවුරු කර ඇත.
ශ්රී ලංකා විවෘත විශ්වවිද්යාලය විසින් RTI කොමිෂන් සභාවේ නියෝගයකට එරෙහිව ගොනු කළ සංශෝධන අයදුම්පත අභියාචනාධිකරණය විසින් ප්රතික්ෂේප කරන ලදී.
මෙම තීන්දුව මඟින් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ අධ්යාපන ක්ෂේත්රයේ විනිවිදභාවය සහ වගකීම්භාවය තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් වනු ඇතැයි සැලකේ.
மேன்முறையீட்டு நீதிமன்றம் வழங்கிய இந்த முக்கிய தீர்ப்பின் மூலம், பரீட்சார்த்திகள் தங்களின் மதிப்பீடு செய்யப்பட்ட விடைத்தாள்களைப் பார்வையிடுவதற்கு சட்டபூர்வமான உரிமை கொண்டவர்கள் என உறுதிப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.
இலங்கை திறந்த பல்கலைக்கழகம் தாக்கல் செய்திருந்த மேன்முறையீட்டு மனுவை நீதிமன்றம் நிராகரித்துள்ளது.
இந்த தீர்ப்பு இலங்கையின் கல்வி அமைப்பில் வெளிப்படைத்தன்மை மற்றும் பொறுப்புணர்வை வலுப்படுத்தும் முக்கிய முன்னேற்றமாக கருதப்படுகிறது.
📢 Key Message
Candidates Have the Right to Know How Their Papers Were Evaluated
This historic judgment strengthens the Right to Information framework in Sri Lanka and supports fairness in public examinations and university admissions.
Click Below for the Court of Appeal's Decision
