New Delhi:
The much-awaited bill to protect whistleblowers, the people who reveal corruption and the corrupt, will come up before the Cabinet today.
The bill says that the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) will be the nodal agency to look into all complaints and that he will have the powers of a civil court and it will be his responsibility to protect the identity of the witness. Revealing the identity of a whistle blower can invite up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 50,000.
The bill also proposes that no court can interfere in the case and can have any powers on the decision of the CVC.
The number of whistleblowers killed this year alone has gone up to eight. The Congress-ruled Maharashtra tops the list with four killings, followed by the BJP-ruled Gujarat with two.
TRUTH SILENCEDThe government came out with the Bill after three high profile whistleblowers' murders prompted huge public outcry:
Satyendra Dubey (1973-2003)Satyendra Dubey, the project director of National Highways Authority of India, was murdered in Gaya. In November 2003, Dubey had exposed large-scale corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral Highway Project.
Manjunath Shanmugam (1978-2005)Two years later, 27-year-old IIM grad Manjunath Shanmugam was shot dead outside Lucknow for trying to clean up corruption in the gas station industry.
Amit Jethwa (1977-2010)Just a few weeks back on July 21, Amit Jethwa was killed by two unidentified attackers as he was coming out of a court in Ahmedabad. He had recently filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Gujarat High Court against illegal mining in Gir forest. A Gujarat BJP MP is under the scanner for his murder.