Whistleblower Mechanism in India

Growth and expansion are the two sides of a coin in the global economic standpoint. Today, everyone wants to grow and touch new bases to accomplish better outcomes and returns. However, attaining a better global economic interest comes with a huge responsibility and accountability as the stake holders’ are threatened by the invasion of security & compliance issues within the boundaries of organizations. The company is responsible for keeping this trust intake while constantly strengthening ties with all the parties involved. As a result, majority of the companies have a defined and structured internal governance and compliance policy to protect peoples’ interests. Still, setting up a policy doesn’t suffice to keep a check on your organizational health.

Whistle Blowing: Understanding the Term 

Raising your voice at wrong inside or outside the company is whistle blowing. Whistle blowing basically means informing authorities about misconduct or malpractices of any kinds; be it fraud, corruption wrongdoings, etc. A whistleblower is a person who has the guts to report matters unknown to the organization. He is a brave soul who doesn’t report things because of any revulsion or revenge but, he brings matters in limelight as a firm believer of the organizational vision and goals. Whistle blowing is a move towards self-correction for organizations to reassess their functioning. Opposite to the popular myth of spreading panic and rumor, whistle blowing is an alert to emergencies.

Indian View on Whistle Blowing

Whistle blowing in India is still in nascent stage. The country has no concrete laws to counter the implications of whistle blowing. However, there are heroes who sacrificed their lives for lightening the candles of truth and ethics. People like Satyendra Dubey and Manjnath Shanmgan and many other social-activists have received the price of whistle blowing. Their sacrifices have drawn the government’s attention towards drafting a law to protect whistle blowers.

In 2014, the government of India has passed the “Whistle Blowers Protection Act 2014” which is applicable only for public servants. The Act underlines on setting up a policy within organizations that safeguards against victimization of whistle blowers. The Act calls for formalizing ways to report complaint related to any allegation of corruption misconducts/discretion against any public servant. In 2015, an amendment was proposed in the Act, which didn’t get a nod from the Rajya Sabha. 

However, a thrust was given on setting up a vigil mechanism to stop victimization of whistle blowers in the guidelines of the Companies Act, 203. In fact, The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has urged companies to establish a whistle blower policy for listed companies and educate employees about the same. Unfortunately, whistle blower policies aren’t made mandatory for private employers in the country. However, a few large corporations have identified the need for establishing a proper whistle blowing policy and extended their global policies in their Indian operations as well.