New Delhi : Noting that whistleblowers who raise their voice against
corruption in government need to be protected, the Supreme Court on
Wednesday gave the Centre a week's time to report back on the time
required for setting up a foolproof interim mechanism to receive
complaints and protect the lives of whistleblowers till a law is enacted
in Parliament.
" Till
the time there is a law, you ( the Union Government ) create a mechanism
for dealing with complaints of whistleblowers and their safety," a
Bench, led by Chief Justice of India T.S.Thakur, told Attorney-General
Mukul Rohatgi.
The
Bench then scheduled for January 13 hearing of the public interest
litigation petition filed by NGO Parivartan on how whistleblowers who
exposed corruption ended up victims of their own courageous act and even
faced threats to their lives. Earlier the Centre had said legislation
was in the offing.
The Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha and there is a demand to send
it to the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha. It deals with handling
and probing disclosures made in public interest against corruption,
wilful misuse of power or discretion, or criminal offences by public
servants.
( Chennai edition of " The Hindu ", Thursday,January 7, 2016 ).
Courtesy : M.P.Subrahmanian. 
