whistleblowing

SEMINAR REPORT

ON

“WHISTLE BLOWING”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Mr SATINDER KUMAR MALIKA MALHOTRA

ROLL NO: 5844

M.B.A -II

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Is Ethics?3

Ethics as a Concept 4

ORIGIN OF TERM:.........................................................................................................................5

COMMON REACTIONS:........................................................................................................................6

Whistle-Blower Ethics:...............................................................................................................................7

Benefits 7

Negative Consequences 7

The Whistleblowers Protection Bill...........................................................................................................17

Indian Law: Key Features of the Whistleblowers Protection Bill 17

Indian Law: Who is a Whistleblower?.......................................................................................................18

Indian Law: The Whistleblower Protection Law 18

Indian Law: Will these New Laws Empower or Endanger Citizens? 19

Indian Law: Will these New Laws Empower or Endanger Citizens? 19

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………… 20

BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………… 21

INTRODUCTION:

What is ethics? Ethics refers to the concept of what is right and wrong, moral and immoral.

Ethical behavior is generally considered behavior that is in line with the accepted moral code,

and that is proper.

What Is Ethics?

According to the dictionary, ethics is:

1. the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment; moral philosophy

2. a treatise on this study

3. the system or code of morals of a particular person, religion, group, profession, etc.

Part of this definition is easy to understand. The first one refers to an academic concept.

Philosophers, law professors, socialists, moralists and a whole host of other academics are

engaged in the study of what is considered moral behavior. The study involves looking at

different theories of ethics such as: situational ethics, consequential ethics, values ethics,

utilitarian ethics, moralistic ethics, ethical realism, ethical hierarchy, principle ethics and moral

development of ethics.

The second definition is simple too... it just refers to all the writings about all of these different

theories of ethics.

The third definition, on the other hand, is where things get complicated.

Ethics as a Concept

When it comes to ethics as a specific code of moral behavior, this is where things get trickier.

After all, who or what determines what is moral or ethical? Does public policy determine what is

ethical?

This would suggest that if you behave in line with what most people believe is right, you will be

behaving ethically... but what if everyone believes it is right to have slaves or to kill elderly

people? In those cases, the popular beliefs would not be ethical or moral... but why not, if the

code of society says they are alright?

Perhaps, then, the definition of ethical behavior shouldn't come from what society determines is

right, but from what you know in your heart is right. However, people from different cultural

backgrounds and different situations may have different moral codes. If someone has a skewed

moral code -such as believing his race is superior to other races- does that justify his behavior if

he honestly believes he is acting morally?

This leads to the concept of certain moral truths or moral imperatives dictating what is ethical.

For example, it is widely considered an inalienable truth that killing is wrong... even this,

however, creates ethical problems -what about killing in war or assisted suicides, for example?

Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to what is ethical or to what ethical behavior is. Many

turn to religion or to the law to give guidance as to ethical behavior. Ultimately, however, ethical

is a relative term not easily defined.

DEFINATION OF WHISTLEBLOWER:

A whistleblower is a person who raises a concern about alleged wrongdoing occurring in a

government or governmental entity or a private or public corporation or an organization or

agency that is expected, by the public at large, to be operating within the bounds of the law. The

alleged misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule,

regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations,

and corruption. Whistleblowers may make their allegations internally (for example, to other

people within the accused organization) or externally (to regulators, law enforcement agencies,

to the media or to groups concerned with the issues).

Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal, sometimes at the hands of the organization or group

which they have accused, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law.

ORIGIN OF TERM:

The term whistleblower derives from the practice of British police officers, who would blow

their whistles when they noticed the commission of a crime. The whistle would alert other law

enforcement officers and the general public of danger.

TYPES OF WHISTLEBLOWERS :

Most whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct on a fellow employee

or superior within their company. One of the most interesting questions with respect to internal

whistleblowers is why and under what circumstances people will either act on the spot to stop

illegal and otherwise unacceptable behavior or report it. There is some reason to believe that

people are more likely to take action with respect to unacceptable behavior, within an

organization, if there are complaint systems that offer not just options dictated by the planning

and control organization, but a choice of options for individuals, including an option that offers

near absolute confidentiality.

External whistleblowers, however, report misconduct on outside persons or entities. In these

cases, depending on the information's severity and nature, whistleblowers may report the

misconduct to lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or other local, state,

or federal agencies. In some cases, external whistleblowing is encouraged by offering monetary

reward.

COMMON REACTIONS:Ideas about whistleblowing vary widely. Whistleblowers are commonly seen as

selfless martyrs for public interest and organizational accountability; others view them as 'tattle

tales' or 'snitches', solely pursuing personal glory and fame. Some academics (such as Thomas

Alured Faunce) feel that whistleblowers should at least be entitled to a rebuttable presumption

that they are attempting to apply ethical principles in the face of obstacles and that

whistleblowing would be more respected in governance systems if it had a firmer academic basis

in virtue ethics.

It is probable that many people do not even consider blowing the whistle, not only because of

fear of retaliation, but also because of fear of losing their relationships at work and outside work.

Because the majority of cases are very low-profile and receive little or no media attention and

because whistleblowers who do report significant misconduct are usually put in some form of

danger or persecution, the idea of seeking fame and glory may be less commonly believed.

Persecution of whistleblowers has become a serious issue in many parts of the world. Although

whistleblowers are often protected under law from employer retaliation, there have been many

cases where punishment for whistleblowing has occurred, such

as termination, suspension, demotion, wage garnishment, and/or harsh mistreatment by other

employees. For example, in the United States, most whistleblower protection laws provide for

limited "make whole" remedies or damages for employment losses if whistleblower retaliation is

proven. However, many whistleblowers report there exists a widespread "shoot the messenger"

mentality by corporations or government agencies accused of misconduct and in some cases

whistleblowers have been subjected to criminal prosecution in reprisal for reporting wrongdoing.

As a reaction to this many private organizations have formed whistleblower legal defense

funds or support groups to assist whistleblowers; two such examples are the National

Whistleblowers Centerin the US and Public Concern at Work in the UK. Depending on the

circumstances, it is not uncommon for whistleblowers to be ostracized by their co-workers,

discriminated against by future potential employers, or even fired from their organization. This

campaign directed at whistleblowers with the goal of eliminating them from the organization is

referred to as mobbing. It is an extreme form of workplace bullying wherein the group is set

against the targeted individual.

Whistle-Blower Ethics:

Whistle-blowing occurs when an insider calls attention to dangerous or illegal practices within

an organization. Whistle-blowing arouses controversy because whistle-blowers find their

loyalties divided between the organization on one hand and their ethical values on the other.

Benefits

Whistle-blowers often alert authorities to dangerous, unstable or detrimental situations within

organizations. This action may preempt further abuses and ideally leads to greater transparency

within the organization.

Negative Consequences

Whistle-blowing can have negative effects on the whistle-blower's standing in an organization,

and can lead to alienation at work or even termination from the job. Coworkers sometimes

perceive whistle-blowing as "snitching" or as a betrayal of the organization and its members.

REASONS FOR WHISTLE BLOWING BY EMPLOYEES :

It would be intriguing to explore what makes some employees blow the whistle against wrong

practices and corruption in the organization, how it impacts the organization and the whistle

blower, and what organizations can do to create an environment which helps employees to

prevent organizationally and socially undesirable practices.

Experts define whistle blowing as the disclosure by organizational members (former or current)

of illegal, immoral or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or

organizations that may be able to affect action. While the reporting of sensitive issues may be

part of the individual's role within the organization (e.g., internal auditors, inspectors), when the

individual finds it necessary to reveal such findings to organizational members outside the

normal chain of command, it is also considered whistle-blowing through internal channels.

Whistle blowing also encompasses situations where individuals go out of the organizational

hierarchy and make information available to public or other external authorities to get a positive

action.

PROCESS OF WHISTLE BLOWING:

There are four factors involved in the process. To begin with, there is a misdeed or illegal

activity in the organization, and a perception that either the management can prevent it or that it

has been initiated by management or certain employees. Another important factor is the presence

of an individual or group of people who view that some action should be taken against the illegal

activity. Finally, there is a process by which the individuals or group try to expose the problem to

the authorities who can take action.

The four factors have organizational and individual dependence. The unclear part would be why

only some employees act as whistle blowers. One obvious reason would be the availability of the

information. The sensitive information would be available only to a selected few or

understanding the issues in the information is possible only by particular individuals. The second

reason which points at the organizational dependence and culture would be the issue of

conformity. Employees at large feel that the information or the illegal activity is part of the

organizational functioning and tend to avoid making bold moves to correct them. Considering

both of these factors, we can generalize to a certain level that whistle blowers have a high level

of moral responsibility, guts and concern for the organization and society at large.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

CONCERNED INDIVIUALS OR GROUPS

RUMORS

WHISTLEBLOWING

ORGANISATIONAL RESPONSE

STAKEHOLDERS

In the organizational context, some of the activities which the employees feel are

misdemeanors will be exposed in the form of rumors in the organization. For example, this

would be some thing like misconduct, individual actions, socially unacceptable practices etc. The

rumors at a particular stage can elicit organizational response. However in cases of intentional

activities this has little chance of occurring and creates a possibility of evoking response from the

whistle blowers. Interestingly trade unions, opposition parties and social activists are whistle

blowers in this context and whistle blowing is considered an essential part of their effective

functioning. In the other case, where the whistle blower comes across serious manipulations or

illegal activity, the reaction is of a different type due to two reasons. Either the employee has

first hand information of the activity and goes through a variety of decision making challenges,

or the response is difficult and may be against a set system.

In the whole process the various stakeholders play a major role. The managers, other employees

and the society at large can be seen as major stake holders. The whistle blowers are often treated

as traitors by the organization. Other employees tend to treat them as outcasts and blame the

whistle blowers for putting the organization in a difficult position. Study of some of the cases

show that whistle blowers often leave the organization or face employer or coworker retaliation.

This creates an unsafe and difficult situation for whistle blowers and employees often take the

stance of avoiding getting into trouble. In an article titled “ What can you learn from Enron”,

various perspectives are put forth on why things go wrong in organizations. A major factor is

complacency from the part of the board, ethics officers, internal auditors, executives and

employees. Even though there is some feeling of discomfort in the way in which some division

or managers is making huge profits, employees tend to be reluctant about asking how it can be

done as they don’t want to be portrayed as trouble makers.

ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN WHISTLE BLOWING:

Organizational culture too plays a major role. An organization which emphasizes on innovation

tends to regulate their managers and employee less for the sake of free thinking. However this

may lead to managers exploiting the system. The increased emphasis on team working and group

thinking has led to the development of very cohesive groups inside organizations. This is

reflected as an all out commitment and a feeling of cult. It would be difficult for employees to

voice their individual concerns in this situation.

The relevant part would be what organizations can do to support whistle blowers and take

actions at the right point of time. From the management point of view the important aspect

would be keeping the issue from getting out of control, avoiding criticism from public and

preventing image loss. Responding at the right time to issues and encouraging people to bring

out problems concerning the functioning and governance of the organization would be critical

here.

HR is considered a neutral department in organizations and can play a critical role in hearing the

voice of employees. For HR, setting up channels and other mechanisms that not only allow but

also promote healthy, open communication will be important for setting up an employee friendly

culture. Training which explicitly states the ethics policy in organizations and the means that

employees can take to handle issues of corruption in organizations will be relevant. Assigning

accountability officers and providing special telephone numbers and e-mail accounts encourage

employees to bring out issues and will help in maintaining anonymity. Meindertsma, an expert in

whistle blowing litigation suggests that it is important for organizations to formulate a zero

tolerance policy and should be ready to respond quickly, encourage employees in bringing forth

issues, understand the legal implications and provide training to managers and supervisors

regarding whistle blowing. Independent and neutral provision for reporting may be critical.

Setting up a clear value system in the organization which is implied in recruitment, training,

performance appraisal etc would help to develop and sustain an open, honest culture.

Managing whistle blowing:

As employees or former employees, it is important to make sure that certain aspects are taken

into consideration before whistle blowing. Whistle blowers should confirm whether the practice

followed in the organization will cause harm to an individual or the general public if uncorrected,

make sure that the facts in hand are reliable and not mere rumors, be fairly certain that by

bringing the matter before an outside group the problem can be corrected and harm avoided.

Finally, weigh the personal risks that are to be encountered if the choice is made to be a whistle

blower (quite often this will be the critical factor which makes the process difficult. However,

this will help to deal with the future problems in a much easier way).

CORPORATE ETHICS POLICY

Importance for ethics pronounced in recruitment and training

Linkage of ethics and governance to performance and feedback

Institutionalization - ethics officers, teams

Audit teams - internal and external

Mechanisms to aid anonymous reporting - email, telephone numbers.

Law can become handy for the whistle blowers in some cases. Support from the law can help

prevent sufferings of whistle blowers. For example, in the US, Whistleblowers Protect Act of

1989 protects federal employees who make public interest disclosures. Also the fall of Enron and

WorldCom initiated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which gives high degree of protection to

the whistle blowers of publicly traded companies. Quite interestingly in India, there are no

legislations to protect the interests of whistle blowers. Considering various aspects, it is

important that the employees are given freedom and support to point out corrupt practices in the

organizations. This culture of openness would help to prevent the humiliating falls as happened

in the case of Enron or WorldCom.

The guts and high moral responsibility of whistle blowers shows that whistle blowers can play a

vital role in fighting loose ethics and slack corporate governance. Ironically, they have to

undergo insult and injury in form of job loss, ridiculing, retaliation and boycott. However an

important aspect here would be the tolerance of the society towards corruption and unfair

practices. In the Indian context it is of high importance that organizations takes a serious view of

instilling high sense of ethics and laws are formulated to protect the employees who play the role

of whistle blowers against corruption both in the private and public sector.

WHISTLEBLOWING: SOME CASE STUDIES:

1. SATYENDRA DUBEY CASE:

Satyendra Dubey was a 31 year old IIT Kanpur graduate who worked on the golden quadrilateral

dream project during the then BJP led regime. He was working as a deputy general manager for

the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) before he was shot dead by unidentified

assailants in November,2003. He was shot dead on the charges of whistle blowing against the

corruption that ran high in the golden quadrilateral project. He was working on  the 60-km

Aurangabad-Barachatti segment of the Golden Quadrilateral in Bihar with headquarters in

Koderma, Jharkhand.

On November 11, 2002, the Prime Minister’s Office received his letter addressed to the Prime

Minister himself. In the letter, a copy of which is with The Sunday Express, Dubey called the

PM’s highway showpiece ‘‘a dream project of unparalleled importance to the nation.’’ 

And then highlighted several instances of what he called ‘‘loot of public money’’ and ‘‘poor

implementation.’’ 

Dubey requested his name be kept secret but at the same time, he let his identity known. He had

reason to. 

‘‘Since such letters from a common man,’’ Dubey wrote, ‘‘are not usually treated with due

seriousness, I wish to clarify... that this letter is being written after careful thought by a very

concerned citizen who is also very closely linked with the project. I request you to kindly go

through my brief particulars (attached to a separate sheet to ensure secrecy) before proceeding

further.’’ 

Just the opposite happened. 

Dubey’s letter is riddled with signatures and scribbles of officials indicating it was a classic case

of a file going into babudom’s endless orbit. 

• In 10 days, the PMO fowarded Dubey’s complaint to his parent Ministry of Road Transport and

Highways. (MoRTH). Dubey’s request for anonymity was apparently ignored by the PMO. 

•Along with the attachment, his letter was sent to the MoRTH. Eight Ministry officials went

through the letter. 

• And on December 4, 2002, Dubey’s letter was sent to the National Highway Authority of India

with a copy to NHAI’s Chief Vigilance Officer. And a covering letter from an official: ‘‘I am

directed to forward herewith an unsigned letter on the above subject (National Highways

Development Project complaint regarding loot of public money) for such action as deemed fit.’’ 

• On November 27, Dubey was shot dead in Gaya when he was returning from Varanasi.

According to the FIR filed at the Rampur police station in Gaya by Dubey’s brother, the people

whose corruption he exposed were behind the murder.

Satyendra Dubey’s key complaints in the letter he wrote:  

• 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

which tenders have been called are like garbage.’’ 

• Process of procurement ‘‘completely manipulated and hijacked’’ by the big contractors. Many

contractors are ‘‘submitting forged documents to justify their technical and financial

capabilities.’’ 

• The ‘‘big contractors have been able to get all sorts of help from the officials 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... No surprise as the commission to officials for award of work are linked to the

contractors getting their first mobilisation advance.’’ 

• The entire mobilisation advance of 10% of contract value (which goes up to Rs 40 crore in

certain cases) has been paid to the contractors ‘‘within a few weeks of 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 equipment advances to the contractors, another 10

per cent of the contract 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 actual execution, 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 at all capable to execute such projects and ensure the quality of

construction.’’ 

More than six years after the murder of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)

whistleblower Satyendra Kumar Dubey, a special court in Patna on Saturday sentenced the three

convicts — Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas — to life imprisonment on 27th

march,2010.

2. SHANMUGHAN MANJUNATH :

Shanmugam Manjunath was a marketing manager (grade A officer) for the Indian Oil

Corporation (IOC) who was murdered for sealing a corrupt petrol station in UP. This incident

inspired several students at IIM, IIT and other institutes.

Manjunath earned his Computer Science Engineering degree from Sri Jayachamarajendra

College of Engineering, Mysore, and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.

While working for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Lucknow, he had ordered two petrol

pumps at Lakhimpur Kheri sealed for selling adulterated fuel for three months. When the pump

started operating again a month later, Manjunath decided to conduct a surprise raid around

November 19, 2005.

Having not heard from his son for three days, at around 9 that night, his father, M Shanmughan,

had sent an SMS: "How are you?" There was no reply because that very night, during his

inspection, Manjunath had been shot dead in Gola Gokarannath town of Lakhimpur Kheri. His

body, riddled with at least six bullets, was found in the backseat of his own car, which was being

driven by two employees of the petrol pump. Both were arrested and the main accused, pump-

owner Pawan Kumar ('Monu') Mittal, was held on November 23 along with seven others. His

only ‘fault’ was that he did his duty. He did not accept bribes for turning a blind eye to the

adulteration of fuel being carried out by the dealer.

Indian Oil Corporation paid Rs. 26 lakhs compensation to the family. The matter of adulteration

in diesel was taken up by the Energy Coordination Committee chaired by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh. One of the policy remedies being considered is to minimize the

subsidy in the price of kerosene (used as cooking fuel by the weaker classes), and to explore

alternate mechanisms for implementing the subsidy. Subsequently, several tanker trucks, laden

with thousands of liters of kerosene, were seized en route to a district neighbouring Lakhimpur

Kheri.

3. YASHWANT SONAWANE:

Yashwant Sonawane was the Additional District Collector of Malegaon(Maharashtra). He was

allegedly burnt alive by oil adulteration mafia at Manmad near Nashik on 25 January 2011.

Sonawane had received some information about oil adulteration a week ago from his sources.

While going to Nandgaon for a tehsildar meeting he spotted a few trucks parked in a very

suspicious manner near a road side eatery where the depots of IOC, HPCL and BPCL were

located. The area was infamous for smuggling and adulteration of petrol, diesel and

kerosene.Sonawane got off the car and started nvestigating about the trucks, the local police it

appears were not informed about this raid. Sometime later a man named Popat Shinde, who had a

reputation of running an oil, petrol and diesel smuggling racket, along with his men attacked the

officer, beat him up and then set him on fire. Shinde was detained by police and was taken to the

Malegaon Civil Hospital since he also suffered burn injuries. Sonawane was declared dead on

arrival at the hospital.

Sonawane was known to be a sincere and upright officer. He was accompanied by his personal

assistant and another staff member but had no police cover.

The Whistleblowers Protection Bill

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. The proposed Indian law intends to protect the whistleblowers,

facilitate the disclosure of information and uncover corruption and deceptive practices that exist

in government organizations.

Indian Law: Key Features of the Whistleblowers Protection Bill

Some of the key features of the proposed Indian law are as follows:

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

workplace.

It provides for concealing the identity of a citizen who discloses information about the

misuse of power and money. Those who reveal the identity of the whistleblower will be held

liable and penalized, by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

The offenders will be liable for imprisonment up to 3 years and 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 imposed for every day of delay beyond the set deadline.

There will be penalization for officials who try to mislead the CVC.

The bill provides for addressing complaints against public sector employees and

employees of the Central and the State Government.

The bill also ensures the honest government officials are not harassed in anyway but

those individuals who file false complaints and charges will be liable for imprisonment up to 2

years and fine up to

Rs.30, 000.

Indian Law: Who is a Whistleblower?

A whistleblower is a person who raises concern about frauds, corruptions, wrongdoings and

mismanagement. For instance, a government employee who exposes corruption practices, within

his department is a whistleblower. So is an employee of a private organization, who raises his

voice against misconduct, within the company. 

The misconduct can be classified in several ways, such as:

Violation of Indian laws.

Posing direct threat to public interest.

Violation of health or safety norms.

Deceptive practices.

A whistleblower may approach an external agency, such as law enforcement officers, media or

social groups. He may also report the matter to other members of the organization.

Indian Law: The Whistleblower Protection Law

The whistleblower protection law has been enforced in various countries. Now, the government

of India is planning to enact such a law, particularly after the murder of Satyendra Dubey, an

engineer with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Dubey was killed after he

wrote to the ex-Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee’s office about the corrupt practices in the

construction of highways.

Dubey had specified in his letter that his identity should remain concealed. True to word, the

letter was forwarded to the concerned departments, without an attempt to conceal his identity.

Dubey was murdered and his death led to a public outcry.

Indian Law: Will these New Laws Empower or Endanger Citizens?

A similar case is that of Manjunath Shanmugham, a sales manager of the IOC. He was killed in 2005 for

uncovering a racket that dealt in petrol adulteration. Following the public outrage surrounding his murder,

the government proposed a bill pertaining to the matter. The Department of Personnel and Training

(DOPT) developed the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill. The bill provides that

anyone can file a complaint of corruption, with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), against any

employee of the Central Government or organizations backed by the Central Government.

The CVC is an authorized nodal agency for addressing complaints. It has powers similar to a civil court,

such as powers to issue summons, order police investigation and provide protection to the whistleblower.

However, the CVC is not authorized, by Indian laws to address the complaints regarding matter that are

already in court’s purview, prejudicial to national security, international relations and proceedings of the

Union Cabinet.

  Indian Law: Will these New Laws Empower or Endanger Citizens?

A similar case is that of Manjunath Shanmugham, a sales manager of the IOC. He was killed in

2005 for uncovering a racket that dealt in petrol adulteration. Following the public outrage

surrounding his murder, the government proposed a bill pertaining to the matter. The Department

of Personnel and Training (DOPT) developed the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of

Informers) Bill. The bill provides that anyone can file a complaint of corruption, with the Central

Vigilance Commission (CVC), against any employee of the Central Government or

organizations backed by the Central Government.

The CVC is an authorized nodal agency for addressing complaints. It has powers similar to a

civil court, such as powers to issue summons, order police investigation and provide protection

to the whistleblower. However, the CVC is not authorized, by Indian laws to address the

complaints regarding matter that are already in court’s purview, prejudicial to national security,

international relations and proceedings of the Union Cabinet.

CONCLUSION:

Whistleblowing is often considered a dilemma in terms of being ethical or not. Some might believe that whistleblowing if done selflessly and for the benefit of the company or for the society as a whole is ethical and holds more importance than any other deed done for the company by the employees. But there is also another belief that if the whistleblowing is done selfishly with a motive of revenge or for raking up favouratism from the senior officials of the company is unethical.

In Indian context the whistleblowing protection laws aren’t that much effective or implemented properly by the central and the state government and due to this reason many officials of the types of Satyender Dubey, Shanmugam Manjunath & Yashwant sonawane lost their lifes. Had there be any law to protect them being implemented properly things might have been different.

So there is a need of a proper implementation of the Whistleblowers Protection Bill by both the central and state government of India to save the whistleblowers from any harm to their lives.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. http://www.lawisgreek.com/indian-law-whistleblowers-protection-bill-cleared-cabinet

2. http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/news/whistleblowing_law.htm

3. http://indiblog.com/88/whistleblowing-is-a-deadly-affair/

4. http://india-gossip.blogspot.com/2011/01/yashwant-sonawane-indian-officer-burnt.html

5. www.google.com

6. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Manmad-The-grimy-hub-of-adulteration/Article1- 656015.aspx

7. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Ethics-of-Whistle-Blowing&id=3866452

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower