Will Truth Prevail?: in Its Current Form, The Whistle-Blowers' Bill Will Simply Not Do
Will Truth Prevail?: in Its Current Form, The Whistle-Blowers' Bill Will Simply Not Do
between his declaration of victory in Iraq and the launch of direct millions of refugees it created while claiming its supposed na-
negotiations shortly afterwards, between Israel and the quisling tional patrimony in Palestine. And the US, after creating an esti-
Palestine regime of Mahmoud Abbas. Like all previous efforts by mated four million refugees from Iraq the best of the countrys
the US to bring the Zionist entity to some semblance of accommo- middle-class and intelligentsia feels little remorse that it was
dation with the Palestinian people, this too is destined to fail. tweaked into a foreordained military disaster, to serve the strate-
Israel simply does not feel any sense of accountability for the gic ambitions of a recalcitrant ally.
T
he Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons concerned government authorities (including police) to ensure
Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010 was recently tabled in the protection and that these directions will be binding. Nothing is
Lok Sabha. The Law Commission of India had first drafted spelt out and clearly everything is left to the discretion of the
a bill on providing protection to whistle-blowers in 2001. Since concerned agencies.
then the murder of two whistle-blowers (Satyendra Dubey in The whistle-blowers bill does not cover the private sector,
2003 and Manjunath Shanmugham in 2007) brought the issue concerned as it is with only central and state governments. There
of the vulnerability of those who expose corruption into public is no reason why the private sector should be left out of the
focus. Following a Supreme Court order in 2004, the government purview of the bill. Also, any disclosure of corruption made five
issued the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers years after the corrupt act was allegedly done will not be investi-
Resolution. Since this resolution is not sufficient to provide gated. This provision is rather baffling and has the potential to
statutory protection to people who report corruption, a law was encourage fudging of dates and backdating of documents.
required to provide effective protection to those who expose Since the CVC has no investigative mechanism of its own, the
corruption and wrongdoing. bill envisages that a public authority (against whom a disclosure
Everywhere in the world whistle-blowers have to be unusually is made and to whom the CVC sends an inquiry) will create an
committed and unafraid of risks, but strong protection laws go a appropriate machinery to deal with the inquiry which the CVC
long way in reassuring them of safety. However, given the is empowered to superintend. The CVC can also take the assistance
endemic proportions of corruption in public life in India and of police authorities and the Central Bureau of Investigation for
corruption-related violence (eight Right to Information (RTI) making inquiries. Both these agencies are periodically mired in
activists have been murdered since January this year), the moot controversies and are accused of being vulnerable to pressures
point is how far it will be possible to implement the provisions of from the ruling political establishment.
the proposed legislation and how far the infrastructure available The fight against corruption has many ramifications and
will support effective implementation. has to be carried out on many fronts. The RTI Act has been a
The bill covers acts of corruption or wilful misuse of power particularly effective one not only because it is a strong piece of
by public servants belonging to the central and state govern- legislation but also because RTI activists across the country are a
ments or any corporations, societies, local bodies and categories vigilant lot. In the US which has perhaps seen the most high-
under their jurisdiction. It provides for adequate protection profile whistle-blowing cases than those of any other country
to public servants or citizens reporting such corruption and disclosures of corruption are covered by a number of laws
a regular mechanism to encourage them to disclose such acts. which are constantly being revised to give them more teeth. For
It prevents victimisation of such complainants, and empowers example, the US Whistleblowers Protection Act, 1989 to protect
the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) or the designated com- federal employees making disclosures was amended in 1994 and
petent authorityto penalise those who reveal their identity. The an Office of Special Counsel was set up to aid them and prevent
CVC which is the nodal agency in all such cases will have the victimisation. After the Enron collapse, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
powers of a civil court. It also enjoins punishment for false or of 2002 was passed giving wide legal protection to disclosures in
frivolous complaints. publicly traded companies, providing for exemplary punishment
Protecting the identity of whistle-blowers is always very to anyone retaliating and placing a deadline for completion
difficult and in the past few years the United States has witnessed of investigation.
high-profile cases of whistle-blowers who have exposed illegal The Public Interest Disclosure Bill needs to be vigorously
acts in large corporations being subjected to harassment. Pro- debated in the public and thoroughly revised so as to give it more
tection will require an exceptionally strong legal help mecha- teeth lest it becomes yet another cosmetic exercise. How may the
nism, a committed and sensitive investigative agency and strong risk involved in blowing-the-whistle be significantly reduced?
support systems. In the bill introduced in Parliament, the rele- How best may the anonymity of the whistle-blower be scrupu-
vant clause 10 only says that in case of victimisation the compe- lously maintained? How may the whistle-blower be adequately
tent authority shall take action as deemed fit, direct the protected against retaliatory action?
8 september 11, 2010 vol xlv no 37 EPW Economic & Political Weekly