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.
