India - Cabinet approves bill to protect whistleblowers Know Important features of The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the

India - Cabinet approves bill to protect whistleblowers Know Important features of The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010.

Reality Views by sm –
Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A proposed legislation to protect whistleblowers and provide for severe punishment to those exposing the identity of people disclosing information was approved at a meeting of the Union Cabinet.



The Bill is expected to encourage disclosure of information in public interest and to protect people who expose corruption in government.

When this bill The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010 will become the law?
It will be now tabled in parliament.
Once passed in parliament by both the lower and upper houses, it will be signed by the president of India following which the central government will notify it as law.
It is likely to be tabled in the ongoing monsoon session of parliament.


Below are the important features of The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010.

1.It is aimed at protecting the identity of citizens who reveal information about the misuse of public authority and public money.

2.Once this bill becomes law, it would empower the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to penalize those who reveal the identity of whistleblowers or threaten them.

3.The penalty under the proposed legislation for the guilty is up to three years of jail and a fine of up to Rs.50, 000.

4.The bill also empowers the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to impose a penalty on a public authority - Rs 250 for every day of delay beyond the stipulated deadline - that sits on complaints sent to them for their comments.

5.The CVC will have the powers of a civil court.

6.The commission will have powers of a civil court under this law; appeals against its decisions will lie with the high court.

7.The CVC will be the nodal agency in all such cases.

8.The bill, which has provisions to prevent victimization or disciplinary action against whistleblowers will cover, Central, State and Public Sector Employees.

9.The Bill also proposes that no court can interfere in the case and can have any powers over the decision made by the CVC. It will also be able to take action against anyone, who makes frivolous complaints.

10.According to reports, the CVC will also have powers to punish those making frivolous complaints in accordance with the bill's provisions.

11.It stipulated a two-year jail term and a maximum fine of Rs 30,000 for people who were found to be leveling false and frivolous complaints against officials.

Why this law was in India by parliament or Indian politicians ?
A honest government would have made this law as soon as India got independence or quickly after murder of Dubey. but we wait for the orders from SC of India, as we are corrupt or uneducated.

The credit goes to Honorable Supreme Court of India.

Note - The first U.S. law adopted specifically to protect whistleblowers was the Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912.

In April 2004, under Supreme Court pressure, the Government had issued an order — Public Interest Disclosures and Protection of Informers Resolution, 2004 — designating the CVC as the nodal agency to handle complaints on corruption.

Few questions for which I am still looking information.
Will it protect corporate, private sector whistleblowers?
Military whisleblower ?
Intelligence whisleblower ?


Final conclusion –
This law will not give protection to any Indian.
This law will discourage honest Indians to make use of RTI, or report about corruption as if he fails to prove, he will be fined.

The law should create fear in the minds of dishonest persons, just 3 years jail term it will do nothing.
Punishment should have been not 3 but 300 years in jail.

Something is better than nothing.
Let’s hope one day in future this proposed bill or law will be amended which will create fear in the minds of dishonest Indians.

Suggested Reading –
Do we know the meaning of Whistleblowers?
India: Can We Dare To Expose the Corruption – Become Whistleblowers
http://realityviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/india-can-we-dare-to-expose-corruption.html