Collateral Damage: An Urgent Need for Legal Apparatus for Protection of the Whistleblowers & RTI Activists

Abstract

Culture of secrecy resulted in fertile growth of corruption. In face of nonaccountability of the public authorities and lack of openness in the functioning of government, abuse of power and corrupt diversion of the public money was the order of the day. Limitations to the free flow of information led to the germination of feelings such as ‘powerlessness’ and 'alienation' among the citizens. It has been realized by most of the countries that greater access of the citizens to information enhances the responsiveness of government to community needs. In turn, this facility provides a platform of public grievances and thus improves feeling of goodwill towards the government. Under such circumstances, public and various NGOs demanded greater access to the information held by public authorities. The government approved to their demand by enacting RTI Act, 2005. Union Cabinet, on the 9th Aug 2011, cleared the bill for whistleblower protection. This bill will entail protecting the whistleblowers & punishing those who expose the identity of people disclosing information based upon public requests. This will provide Central Vigilance Commission same powers as that of a civil court to hand down severe punishments to people revealing identity of whistleblowers. The CVC will be empowered to take action against those who reveal the identity of whistleblowers or those who threaten the whistleblowers while those who make frivolous complaints will also be liable to punishment. Aim: The main objective of the bill is to safeguard those exposing corruption or malpractice by public servants. The broader goal is to initiate public participation to help keep corruption in check. Why it’s important: The bill, if approved, would serve as the country’s first law to protect whistleblower. In recent years, incidents of harassment, intimidation and violence have been reported by whistleblowers across the country. This has discouraged citizens from speaking out against wrongdoing in the public sector. In 2003, a public servant was shot and killed after denouncing allegedly unlawful dealings in a national highways’ project. This paper indicates there is need to restructure the existing legal acts for protection of RTI activist.