16.
| (1) No person shall publish, or cause to be published, in any newspaper, any matter which purports to be the proceedings or any part thereof, of a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers. |
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| (2) No person shall publish, or cause to be published in any newspaper-
| | (a) any matter which purports to be the contents or any part of the contents of any document sent by or to all or any of the Ministers to or by the Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers; or | | |
| | (b) any matter which purports to be a decision or any part of a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, | | |
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| (3) No person shall publish or cause to be published in any newspaper any official secret within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act or any matter relating to military, naval, air-force or police establishments, equipment or installation which is likely to be prejudicial to the defence and security of the Republic of Sri Lanka, unless such matter has been approved for publication in the newspapers by the Secretary to the Ministry in charge of the subject of Defence. |
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| (4) No person shall publish or cause to be published in any newspaper any statement relating to monetary, fiscal, exchange control or import control measures alleged to be under consideration by the Government or by any Ministry or by the Central Bank, the publication of which is likely to lead to the creation of shortages or windfall profits or otherwise adversely affect the economy of Sri Lanka, unless such matter has been approved for publication in the newspapers by the Secretary to the Ministry in charge of the subject in question. |
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| (5) Subject to the preceding provisions of this section, no person shall publish., or cause to be published, in any newspaper, any proposal or other matter, alleged to be under consideration by any Minister or any Ministry or the Government, when it is false that such proposal or matter is under consideration by such Minister, Ministry or by the Government. In any prosecution for a contravention of this subsection, the burden of proving that any such proposal or other matter so published is false shall lie on the prosecution. |
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| (6) In this section-
| | (a) " Cabinet of Ministers " includes a Committee of Ministers appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers; | | |
| | (b) " Government " means the Cabinet of Ministers; | | |
| | (c) " Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers " includes an officer authorized in writing by the Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers for the purposes of this section. | | |
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| (7) Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to be punished with a fine not exceeding five thousand rupees, or with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding two years, or with both such fine and imprisonment. |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts