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Whistleblowers Protection Bill Gets President's Nod
All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: May 13, 2014 21:37 IST
Whistleblowers Protection Bill Gets President's Nod
File Photo of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee
New Delhi:
People who expose corruption in government or irregularities
by public functionaries can now be free of any fear of victimization.
The
Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011, which provides a mechanism for
protecting the identity of whistleblowers - a term given to people who
expose corruption -
got the assent of President Pranab Mukherjee on
Friday.The Act also provides for a system to encourage people to
disclose information about corruption or the wilful misuse of power by
public servants, including ministers.
As per the law, a person
can make a public interest disclosure on corruption before a competent
authority - which is at present the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
The government, by notification, can appoint any other body also for
receiving such complaints about corruption, the Act says.
The
Act, however, lays down punishment of up to two years in prison and a
fine of up to Rs 30,000 for false or frivolous complaints.
"Any
person who makes a malafide disclosure, knowing that it was incorrect or
false or misleading, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend up to two years as well as a fine which may extend up
to Rs 30,000," according to a gazette notification of the Act issued
yesterday by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The Act says that
every disclosure shall be made in good faith and the person making the
disclosure shall provide a personal declaration stating that he
reasonably believes that the information disclosed by him and the
allegation contained therein is substantially true.
Disclosures
can be made in writing or by email or email message in accordance with
the procedure as may be prescribed and contain full particulars and be
accompanied by supporting documents, or other material, the Act states.
However,
no action shall be taken on a disclosure if it does not indicate the
identity of the complainant or public servant or if "the identity of the
complainant or public servant is found to be incorrect".
Information
related to national security has been kept out of the purview of the
Act. The Act is not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir, the armed forces
and the Special Protection Group mandated to provide security to the
Prime Minister and former prime ministers, among others.
The
Whistleblowers Protection Bill was introduced on August 26, 2010. It was
referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee on September 16, 2010,
which had given its report on June 9, 2011.
The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on December 11, 2011 and by Rajya Sabha on February 21, 2014.
Earlier,
the CVC was the designated agency to receive complaints from
whistleblowers under the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of
Informer resolution (PIDPI) or whistleblowers' resolution.
The
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had directed all central
government departments to designate a nodal officer in each ministry to
look into complaints of corruption received from whistleblowers under
PIDPI
News Source :
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/whistleblowers-protection-bill-gets-president-s-nod-523724
