Death of a Whistleblower

7/28/2019 Death of a Whistleblower

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(1973-2003)



Satyendra Dubey the son of Bageshwari Dubey and

Phulamati Devi was born at the village of Sahpur in

the Siwan district of Bihar, India.

The family of five girls and two boys subsisted on asmall piece of land, and Bageshwari also held a low-

paying clerical position in a nearby sugar mill.



At the age of 15 he studied at the Gang Baksh

Kanodiya High School in Sahpur

Then joined junior college at Allahabad, He was admitted to the Civil Engineering

Department of IIT Kanpur in 1990,graduated

in 1994.

Subsequently, he did his M. Tech (Civil Engg.)

from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU)

Varanasi in 1996.



Died :- 27 November 2003 (aged 30)

Cause of death – Assassination

Place :- Gaya, India.



July 2002 he was employed by the National

Highway Authority of India (NHAI). He

became the Assistant Project Manager atKoderma, Jharkhand.

Responsible for managing a part of the

Aurangabad-Barachatti section of National

Highway 2 (The Grand Trunk Road).



This highway was part of the GoldenQuadrilateral (GQ) Corridor Project, the US$12 billion project was to build a 6000 km

highway network linking India’s four major cities. It was the dream project of the then PMof India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and waslaunched in the year 1999.

Dubey wrote a letter to the PMO citing thevarious corruptions that were on going in theGQ project.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7PdmGCcPik



In November 2002, Satyendra Dubey sent a letter to thePMO detailing systemic corruption in the NationalHighway Authority of India. He named four contractors andgave details of their misdeeds. In order to protect himself,

he also made a special request that his name be kept secretwhen the PMO investigated the matter.

Satyendra's name was not protected and the file containinghis complaint was circulated to various offices. This was

like issuing a public contract for his life.

A year later, on 27, November 2003, Satyendra wasmurdered in Gaya, the town where he lived and worked for NHAI.



News reports about Satyendra's murder stirred thenation and unleashed a storm of outrage.

Within days the Prime Minister's Office and NHAIissued statements defending themselves and trivializingSatyendra's death.

On December 14th, 2003 , the case was handed over tothe CBI.

By 26 th December, the CBI said that according to theevidence given by rickshaw puller Pradeep Kumar,Satyendra had been killed when resisting thieves whowere trying to rob him. Most people refused to believethis and the CBI's explanation further intensified the public outrage.



In mid-January, 2004 key witness, Pradeep Kumar, "disappeared".

Two other witnesses, who were interrogated by the CBI in this case,allegedly committed suicide within a day in the end of January.

There was no investigation of these murky happenings or the CBI'srole in these suspicious deaths. After keeping quiet for about sixmonths, the CBI again repeated the earlier story in June 2004.

There has been no public investigation of the alleged corruptionwithin the NHAI and thus no attempt to set things right.



Detail Project Reports (DPR) by design consultants are in ‘‘very poor shape and cannot be implemented in the field without major modifications...The result is that the DPRs on the basis of whichtenders have been called are like garbage.’’

Process of procurement ‘‘completely manipulated and hijacked’’ bythe big contractors. Many contractors are ‘‘submitting forgeddocuments to justify their technical and financial capabilities.’’

The ‘‘big contractors have been able to get all sorts of help from theofficials in NHAI and even the note sheets carrying approval of Chairman have been leaked outside.’’



NHAI officials have shown great hurry in giving‘‘mobilisation advance to selected contractors... Nosurprise as the commission to officials for award of

work are linked to the contractors getting their firstmobilisation advance.’’

The entire mobilisation advance of 10% of contractvalue (which goes up to Rs 40 crore in certain cases)has been paid to the contractors ‘‘within a few weeksof award of work’’ without follow-up to ensure they are‘‘actually mobilised at site with the same pace.’’



‘‘Diversion or idling of funds... in case of equipmentadvances to the contractors, another 10 per cent of thecontract value.’’

NHAI is going for international competitive bidding to procure the most competent civil contractor for execution of its projects. When it comes to the actualexecution, it is found that most of the works

(sometimes even upto 100 per cent) are being sublet or sub-contracted to small petty contractors who are not atall capable to execute such projects and ensure thequality of construction



Bihar DGP D P Ojha: ‘‘The criminalisation of contractors is

an unfortunate but true fact...Most of the contracts go to the

mafia. I am shocked to hear how an honest man died. I will

take personal interest and ensure that we book the culprits.’’

PMO spokesman: ‘‘Numerous letters come in everyday and it

is very difficult to trace each and every letter. If you have a

copy and send it to me, I can then find out.’’



Dubey’s Boss Union Minister B C Khanduri: ‘‘I’m

not aware of the letter.’’ When told that Dubey’s

letter shows his initials, he said: ‘‘I can’t recall it. The

NHAI chairman has been asked to compile all

letters.’’ Asked why Dubey’s request for secrecy was

ignored, Khanduri said: ‘‘It’s neither possible nor

appropriate for me to comment. I have talked to his brother and the Bihar Chief Minister.’’



Law to protect Whistleblower

The Whistleblowers Protection bill has been passed by the Union Cabinet on August 9,

2010. The bill is officially known as the Public

Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons

Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010.



It will protect the whistleblowers from any discrimination or victimization in their workplace.

It provides for concealing the identity of a citizen whodiscloses information about the misuse of power and money.

Those who reveal the identity of the whistleblower will beheld liable and penalized, by the Central VigilanceCommission (CVC).

The offenders will be liable for imprisonment up to 3 yearsand a fine up to Rs.50, 000.



There will be penalization in case of delays in response, under the Right to Information Act. A fine of Rs.250 will be imposedfor every day of delay beyond the set deadline.

There will be penalization for officials who try to mislead theCVC.

The bill provides for addressing complaints against publicsector employees and employees of the Central and the StateGovernment.

The bill also ensures the honest government officials are notharassed in anyway but those individuals who file falsecomplaints and charges will be liable for imprisonment up to 2years and fine up to Rs.30, 000.



Manjunath Shanmugham, an IIM graduate and a salesmanager of the IOC, was murdered on Nov 19, 2005for exposing the racket of adulteration of petrol and themafia behind it.

Puducherry Madras High Court Justice R Reghupathy’s claim that a Union Minister tried to pressure him in acase involving alleged forgery of mark sheets in anMBBS exam has given fresh lease of life to a murder

case that lies at the heart of the scandal.The man who blew the lid off the mark sheet forgery racket inPondicherry University was found murdered on May20, 2008.



Puducherry Madras High Court Justice R

Reghupathy’s claim that a Union Minister tried to

pressure him in a case involving alleged forgery of

mark sheets in an MBBS exam has given fresh lease

of life to a murder case that lies at the heart of the

scandal. The man who blew the lid off the mark sheet

forgery racket in Pondicherry University was found

murdered on May 20, 2008.



Mumbai: In a shocking incident, Additional

District Collector of Nashik, Yashwant

Sonawane, was burnt alive on 25th

january’11for cracking down on the oil mafia operating

in the vicinity of Panewadi oil depot near

Manmad town, 75 kilometres from the district

headquarters.





Identity whistle blowing whistle should be

kept secret

Proper security should be asked and ensured Smart and intelligent steps are required to

change the system



It should be with as much specific factual

information possible (report what you know,

but don’t investigate— leave that to theexperts!)



If you are still depressed and perplexed, gazeat the face of young Dubey for a while. You

will be driven to do “something”. And thenDubey will no longer be ‘dead’.

Death of a Whistleblower

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