New Delhi: After a long wait,a legislation aimed at protecting whistleblowers will be taken up by the Cabinet on Thursday.The bill has provisions to prevent victimization or disciplinary action against those who expose corruption in government. The proposed law is expected to encourage disclosure of information in public interest and will cover central,state and public sector employees.
According to the bill, if a person making a disclosure is victimized and his or her identity is revealed, the whistleblowers superiors will be held liable. There are clauses providing for a fine and other penalties if a whistleblower is found to be punished for exposing wrongdoing.Similarly,there are penalties for frivolous or malicious complaints.The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Persons Making Disclosure Bill,2010,defines public information disclosure as information which indicates misuse of public money or authority.
Sources said the legislation makes Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) the nodal authority to which complaints against any state,central government or public sector employee would be delivered. CVC will have powers to ensure all steps are taken to protect the whistleblower.At the same time,the CVC will have powers to punish those making frivolous complaints in accordance with the bills provisions.
Once the Cabinet approves the draft,government intends to introduce it in the current session of Parliament.
The law was conceived in the wake of the brutal killing of National Highway Authority of India engineer Satyendra Dubey,who complained against corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral project,and was supported by the Law Commission in its report in 2002. The Supreme Court also asked the government to come out with suitable legislation to protect whistleblowers. The matter had been in limbo as the government wrestled with the problem of resolving the contradiction of a whistleblowers law with the provisions of the Official Secrets Act which enjoins government employees not to part with information revealed to them in their official capacity.
The Cabinet may also consider whether it needs to expand the scope of the proposed law in order to appoint a competent authority to deal with corporate whistleblowers. In 2004,the government had issued an order,Public Interest Disclosures and Protection of Informers Resolution,2004,designating the CVC as the nodal agency to handle complaints against officials on corruption charges.
Dubey Fallout - Under the proposed law,if a whistleblower is victimized or his or her identity is compromised,the individuals superiors will be held liable
CVC will be nodal authority to handle complaints against state,central govt or PSU employee
CVC will also be given powers to punish those making frivolous complaints
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(source-toi)
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