The Designated Officer of the Presidential Secretariat has upheld an earlier decision by its Information Officer to reject a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by YouTuber Jinath Premaratne regarding the expenses incurred by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on domestic travel and accommodation over the past 12 months.
In a letter dated September 17, 2025, the Designated Officer informed Premaratne that there would be no change to the previous decision.
Premaratne had appealed the earlier rejection, arguing that his request was strictly limited to financial expenditure data—such as total costs, funding sources, and travel locations—and did not seek any information of an operational or security-sensitive nature. He maintained that disclosure of such expenses was in line with the transparency principles of the RTI Act and essential for public accountability.
However, in a letter dated August 27, 2025, the Information Officer had rejected the request under Section 5(1)(b)(i) of the RTI Act, citing that the information sought was directly related to security-sensitive matters concerning the President.
Following this decision, Premaratne filed his appeal under Section 31(1) of the RTI Act, which was ultimately dismissed by the Designated Officer.
