Raw deal for whistleblowers

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

          

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New Delhi: Politicians have finally woken up to the tragic cases of Manjunath Shanmugam and Satyendra Dubey that shook media in the recent past. One blew the whistle on petrol pump adulteration in Uttar Pradesh, the other on corruption in building national highways in Bihar. Both met a dead end, because they didn't have the benefit of a legislation that could have protected their lives.

Now, the Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Veerappa Moily has recommended a law to protect the lives and identities of whistleblowers. The committee's intentions are noble. But will they work?

To discuss the contentious issue on CNN-IBN's Face the Nation with Vidya Shankar Aiyer were Founder Trustee of Manjunath Shanmugam Trust, Mysore, Anjali Mullatti; Magsaysay award winner and CNN-IBN’s Indian of the Year 2006 for Public Service, Arvind Kejriwal of Parivartan; and brother of murdered IIT engineer Satyendra Dubey, Dhananjay Dubey.

Can whistleblowers get protection in our system?

Insiders, who expose corruption or crime in a system, very often become vulnerable to threats and attacks in the absence of adequate protection laws. Though legal aid to whistleblowers does not exist in India, it is a norm in many countries.

The question is whether it is possible to implement and sustain a whistleblower protection law in India? Though everyone understands that there is need for a strong legislation and its immediate enactment, but for that to become a reality, political will to sustain it is extremely crucial.

Founder trustee of Manjunath Shanmugam Trust, Anjali Mullatti said, “We certainly need a strong legislation. But what we need apart from the law is a close-ended time frame for action. Apart from protection to the whistleblower, the Act must ensure that the action will be taken on the grievance within a time frame,” she added.

She stated that to file a complaint, the entire system has to be “independent of political pressure and bureaucracy”.

Dismal situation when it comes to implemention

Arvind Kejriwal who fought for the Right to Information Act, says he also went through a period of gestation before the Act got implemented.

Rating the success of a possible legislation for the protection of whistleblowers, Kejriwal said, “The legislation must be there certainly. But I have my doubts whether the legislation will provide for the essential protection clauses.”

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?

“Though we have some of the best laws in the world, there doesn’t seem to be a political will to put them into practice. In most states, you will find some of the weakest and the most corrupt people appointed as information officers,” said Arvind Kejriwal

The truth is clear: under the given circumstances if the Government is serious about bringing about a whistleblower protection act, then it must go through a series of public consultations before enacting it.

One of the key things that made the RTI Act a success was that it gave a time-bound frame for Government authorities to act upon a query. Is there a similar provision that can be enacted into the prospective Whistleblower Act as well?

“It can be enacted into a law, but the defaulters are not punished in most cases,” said Kejriwal.

The RTI Act says that if you don’t get the information within 30-days time, the salary of the guilty official should be deducted at the rate of Rs 250 every day that the information is delayed.

“But the reality is that the CIC has dealt with over 2,000 queries so far and did not impose penalty in more than five cases. It clearly shows that there is no will at the Information Commission or the Central level to implement the Act in its true sense,” said Kejriwal.

Anjali Mullatti said that her organisation has received several cases where people have staked their life and profession to reveal an ongoing scandal or act of corruption.

“My trust has announced the Manjunath Award and the nominations we have received so far have been of whistleblowers within the system. We find so many situations where complainants were either sidelined or harassed by public servants. They were posted to remote locations. In many cases, even their lives were at stake,” she said.

She appealed for recognition and reward from the Government for people who unveiled the “dark areas in Indian systems”.

Taking a more pragmatic stand, Dhananjay Dubey said, “Monetary rewards are of no importance to a whistleblower. The only incentive that a complainant can get is prompt action and due protection. His name may or may not be kept anonymous, but the people he names must be punished in public,” he added.