Taking a major leap towards protection of whistleblowers in India, a Citizen’s Whistleblower Forum has recently been formed..The Forum consists of Former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice AP Shah as the Chairperson, Former Chief of the Indian Navy, Admiral Lara Ramdas as the Vice-Chairperson, Former IAS officer and social activist Aruna Roy, Former Finance Secretary EAS Sarma, Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, Advocate Prashant Bhushan and Former CIC Chief, Wajahat Habibullah..Former Supreme Court judge Justice Santosh Hegde was initially part of the Forum, but dropped out due to his “preoccupations and inability to attend meetings of the Forum”..A press release talks about the importance of whistleblower protection, stating,.“The issue of encouraging whistleblowers in various public authorities to blow the whistle on the corruption, misfeasance, and malfeasance that they come across within their departments has become an important issue as corruption has got recognition as one of the most serious problems affecting governance..Several countries have put in place laws/notifications/rules to encourage whistleblowers to blow the whistle. Several countries have created independent authorities to entertain complaints from whistleblowers and have them investigated in order to take action against officers of various public authorities involved in corruption.”.The issue had come to fore after the murder of Satyendra Dubey, who had blown the whistle on corruption in the National Highway Authority of India. The Supreme Court had asked the government to put in place some system for examining complaints of whistleblowers through an independent investigation, as well as to ensure their protection..In May 2014, the government had designated the Central Vigilance Commission as the nodal authority to entertain whistleblower complaints and to protect the whistleblowers from any physical harm or administrative victimization..However, the Forum has stated in its press release that the mechanism did not prove to be effective and “ceased to inspire public confidence about its efficacy”..The Forum calls upon whistleblowers to send complaints, which will be examined and acted upon. It also guarantees the protection of whistleblowers’ identity if so desired by them..It has also urged the government to notify the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, 2011, drop the proposed amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, appoint the Lokpal forthwith and place the CBI under administrative control of Lokpal..The Forum had recently made a complaint against the Central Board of Direct Taxes for its failure to take action against Sahara and Birla.
Taking a major leap towards protection of whistleblowers in India, a Citizen’s Whistleblower Forum has recently been formed..The Forum consists of Former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice AP Shah as the Chairperson, Former Chief of the Indian Navy, Admiral Lara Ramdas as the Vice-Chairperson, Former IAS officer and social activist Aruna Roy, Former Finance Secretary EAS Sarma, Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, Advocate Prashant Bhushan and Former CIC Chief, Wajahat Habibullah..Former Supreme Court judge Justice Santosh Hegde was initially part of the Forum, but dropped out due to his “preoccupations and inability to attend meetings of the Forum”..A press release talks about the importance of whistleblower protection, stating,.“The issue of encouraging whistleblowers in various public authorities to blow the whistle on the corruption, misfeasance, and malfeasance that they come across within their departments has become an important issue as corruption has got recognition as one of the most serious problems affecting governance..Several countries have put in place laws/notifications/rules to encourage whistleblowers to blow the whistle. Several countries have created independent authorities to entertain complaints from whistleblowers and have them investigated in order to take action against officers of various public authorities involved in corruption.”.The issue had come to fore after the murder of Satyendra Dubey, who had blown the whistle on corruption in the National Highway Authority of India. The Supreme Court had asked the government to put in place some system for examining complaints of whistleblowers through an independent investigation, as well as to ensure their protection..In May 2014, the government had designated the Central Vigilance Commission as the nodal authority to entertain whistleblower complaints and to protect the whistleblowers from any physical harm or administrative victimization..However, the Forum has stated in its press release that the mechanism did not prove to be effective and “ceased to inspire public confidence about its efficacy”..The Forum calls upon whistleblowers to send complaints, which will be examined and acted upon. It also guarantees the protection of whistleblowers’ identity if so desired by them..It has also urged the government to notify the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, 2011, drop the proposed amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, appoint the Lokpal forthwith and place the CBI under administrative control of Lokpal..The Forum had recently made a complaint against the Central Board of Direct Taxes for its failure to take action against Sahara and Birla.
