Colombo, 8 May 2026 — In a landmark judgment strengthening transparency in higher education, the Court of Appeal has ruled that university students are entitled to access their own marked examination answer scripts under Sri Lanka’s Right to Information Act, rejecting claims that such disclosure would undermine exam integrity.
The ruling arose from a dispute involving The Open University of Sri Lanka, which had refused to provide a student with her marked answer scripts and results from the LLB Selection Test held on 8 January 2023. The request was made by R. A. Janaka Roshan Ranasinghe on behalf of his daughter, R. A. D. Sashindya Ranasinghe, after the university initially denied access citing risks to examination integrity under Section 5(1)(l) of the Right to Information Act.
The university to release the information. The university subsequently challenged that decision before the Court of Appeal, arguing that disclosing answer scripts could compromise confidentiality, expose exam structures, and create a harmful precedent for higher educational institutions.
However, delivering judgment, the Court of Appeal dismissed the university’s revision application, holding that transparency — particularly where an examinee seeks access to their own answer scripts — is a constitutional requirement. The Court emphasised that there “cannot be hide‑and‑seek games in higher institutions”, noting that transparency and accountability are fundamental objectives of Article 14A of the Constitution and the Right to Information Act.
The bench ruled that denying students access to their own evaluated scripts without strong, evidence‑based justification was unlawful. It clarified that while the identity of examiners must remain confidential, this concern does not outweigh a student’s right to understand how their performance was assessed. The Court also found that university by‑laws cannot override the RTI Act, which explicitly prevails over conflicting written laws.
In reinforcing its decision, the Court referred to both Sri Lankan and international precedents, including earlier Court of Appeal rulings and Indian Supreme Court judgments, which recognise evaluated answer scripts as personal information subject to disclosure, provided examiner confidentiality is maintained.
The Court further criticised the university for bypassing its statutory right of appeal and instead seeking discretionary revisionary relief without demonstrating exceptional circumstances. As a result, the revision application was dismissed without costs, and the RTI Commission’s decision directing disclosure was upheld.
Legal observers say the judgment sets an important precedent for greater transparency in university examinations, affirming students’ rights to access information affecting their academic futures and reinforcing accountability within publicly funded higher education institutions.
(Summarise with the help of AI)
The judgment in Full: [RTI-01-24-FINAL | PDF]