Raw deal for whistleblowers

NO DEFENCE FOR DEFENDERS OF TRUTH: There is no legislation in India to protect whistleblowers.

          

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He added that keeping in mind the kind of system in India, it is unsure whether Indians can keep the identity of a whistleblower anonymous.

“A person who blows the whistle over a high-profile corruption case must be protected by the law. His name and identity should not be revealed and immediate action must be taken on his complaint,” he added.

A whistleblower sticks his neck out because he wants prompt action to be taken on the information revealed by him.

“Somebody who has put his life and profession at stake expects action on his grievance,” said Kejriwal. “The Act is supposed to keep the name of the whistleblower a secret, but it must also provide protection against physical and professional victimisation,” he added.

The Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) was given the designated authority in the matter of IIT engineer Satyendra Dubey's murder. Dubey had written a letter to the Prime Minister's Office exposing corruption in a national highways project in Bihar.

Unfprtunately, CVC has not been able to do much. “The CVC has acted as the nodal agency for providing protection to whistleblowers over the last three years as per Supreme Court orders, but the experience so far has not been very encouraging,” said Kejriwal.

Agreeing with the view, Satyendra Dubey's brother, Dhananjay Dubey, said, “I want to remind people that about three years ago, CVC was assigned the authority to look after such cases. The weakness of CVC shows that there is no political will to make implement this law in the country.”

Dubey said he doubts whether the law will see a light of the day. “Even if this legislation comes up, I don’t think it will help much. Even if the system does deliver politically and passes a legislation, will it actually help in solving the problem?” he asked.

Lack of political will a major roadblock

Even in the Right to Information Act, just like the whistleblower case, there was talk of a lack of political will to see the act through. Today, the RTI Act is a reality. So is there hope for a whistleblower act yet?