The Immigration Chief will take time to respond to citizenship questions

Today, The Morning newspaper said that Harsha Illukpitiya, the Controller General of the Department of Immigration and Emigration, was told yesterday (31) that he will take his time to answer the Right to Information (RTI) requests about the citizenship status of MPs.

Illukpitiya told The Morning that there have been a few recent RTI requests concerning MPs citizenship status, and he plans to take time to respond to these requests in line with the law.

“There have been a few requests for information recently. I believe that a few of them are concerning members of parliament.

We have received them, but we haven’t answered anyone yet. We have more time to do it. There is a legally prescribed period of time to respond. He further added, “I will make the most of that time.”

He noted that there are many other requests filed with the department.

“If the officer can provide a proper answer at the time, they will continue with the inquiry. If there was any ambiguity, the officer would have met with me for clarification.”

When asked whether the department was investigating the citizenship status of MPs, he said: ‘No.’This is not true at all.”

Meanwhile, yesterday, the speaker of the parliament signed the 21 amendment to make it a law. This law says that people who are dual citizens can’t be in the parliament.

The SJB already asked the Colombo magistrate courts for an update about the case the CID is trying to make against MP Diana Gamage about her citizenship.

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