There have been multiple instances of threatening, harassment and even murder of various whistle-blowers in across the country, to create a terror in society, has become the soften target of Mafias, the killing of whistle-blower in India is not new, the cases of killing social activist, RTI activist, Journalist, in India is running since independence.
As per the Ramayana the younger brother of the king of Lanka, Ravana, informs Ram about the where bouts of Sita and joins Ram’s army and fights against Ravana’s terror and Bibishan known as first whistle-blower and he was safeguard by lord Rama.
But now the raising voice and fighting against corrupt and mafias has become the path of death and fear in India, because you are not safe and you will not be protected or supported by the government it has been proved in recent past.
To protect those exposing corruption government has to pass strong legislation that will provide security and protect the identity of whistle-blowers questions has been raises several occasions.
As per the information available on Internet over the past five years, some 150 whistle-blowers have allegedly been harassed or jailed for exposing corruption, while as many as 20 have been killed, and as per the committee to protect Journalist over 35 Journalist have been killed in India since 1992, whether it is violation of constitutional rights of citizen or its just mockery of citizen rights.
The killing of whistle-blower like Satyendra Dubey, Shanmugam Manjunath, has proved that there are lacuna in law, not only social activist is engage to working against corruption several Government officials have been performing their duty towards accountability of government officials, like MN Vijaya Kumar, An Indian Administrative Service officer, exposed serious corrupt practices at high levels and similarly Vijay Pandhare, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, Government of Maharashtra, Rinku Singh Rahi is a whistle-blower bureaucrat, Provincial Civil Services (PCS) civil servant, fighting against corruption in Uttar Pradesh (UP) sponsored welfare schemes.
Rinku suffered an attempt on his life when local gangsters shot him six times, damaging his jaw and the vision of one eye, for exposing corruption, not only government officials private company employees like Dinesh Thakur, who worked at Ranbaxy for four months was responsible for blowing the lid on the company’s falsification of certification documents submitted to drug controllers around the world. The fraud took place over years and top management was complicit,
Nisha Yadav won Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award for lifting lid on child abuse racket at NGO orphanage “Suparaana Ka Aangan”.
Apart from that several well-known activist turned politicians has made tremendous job in this arena.
Is it killing of whistle-blower or threat of fundamental rights?
As per the constitution of India people have given fundamental tights to speak but it is not clear whether it has been granted against corruption.
The parliament of India has witnesses high demand discussion at several times past few years to pass whistle-blower bill to safeguard the whistle-blower, In August 2013, a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Arjan Kumar Sikri ruled that identity of whistle-blower can never be revealed to the accused facing prosecution under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. In March 2011, the Supreme Court of India refused to frame guidelines for protection of whistle blowers in the country, saying that it cannot make law. However, the court allowed the petitioners to approach high court.
India
As per the per Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011,” to establish a mechanism to receive complaints relating to disclosure on any allegation of corruption or wilful misuse of power or wilful misuse of discretion against any public servant and to inquire or cause an inquiry into such disclosure and to provide adequate safeguards against victimisation of the person making such complaint and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto”
International law
Several country have introduced Whistleblower protection act and now it is recognized as part of international law. In 2003, the United Nations adopted the Convention against Corruption. This convention was subsequently signed by 140 nations and formally ratified, accepted, approved, or acceded by 137 nations, including the United States. Article 32 and Article 33 of the UN Convention endorse protection for whistleblowers, that European governments provide “appropriate protection “for employee whistleblowers.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970, for instance, protect workers from retaliation as a result of reporting/investigating health or safety violations in the workplace.
France
Under French law, employees cannot be sanctioned, dismissed or be subject to direct or indirect discriminatory measures (especially concerning salary, training, reclassification or appointment) for reporting in good faith suspected wrongdoing by their employer.
Germany
There is no legislation relating specifically to whistleblower protection in Germany. The rights and duties of employees in this respect are determined by the general rules and obligations applicable to the employer-employee relationship. In short, employees must be loyal to their employer and protect its business.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, no legislation specifically offers whistleblower protection. To gain protection from having “blown the whistle”, an employee has to rely on other rights found in employment and anti-corruption legislation.
United Kingdom
In the UK, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (“PIDA”) protects whistleblowers in two respects:
First the dismissal of employees will be automatically unfair if the reason, or principal reason, for their dismissal is that they have made a “protected disclosure”
Workers (a wider category of individuals than employees) are protected against being subjected to any detriment on the grounds that they have made a protected disclosure.
U.S. law prohibits employers from taking adverse action against employees who engage in whistleblowing activities. Federal law specifically protects those employees who blow the whistle on environmental, workplace safety, and securities laws violations. Federal whistleblower laws also prohibit retaliation against employees who participate in governmental or administrative investigations into potential workplace law violations – even if that employee did not initiate the complaint.
