Satyendra Dubey |
Amnesty International has begun an online petition asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the passage of the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the Rajya Sabha.
Sharply criticizing Modi for "going back" on his word of providing a "transparent and corruption-free government", Amnesty has said, the amendment "weakens the already inadequate whistle blower protections" provided by law and drastically increases the risks for whistle blowers.
Passed by the Lok Sabha in May 2015, it is currently pending before the Rajya Sabha. Pointing out that the amendment would make whistleblowing "much more unsafe", it provides three instances which suggest why a strong law to protest whistleblowers is needed:
- In 2003, Satyendra Dubey, an employee of the National Highways Authority of India was murdered for exposing corruption in the construction of national highways.
- In 2005, Shanmugam Manjunath a sales officer with the Indian Oil Corporation was murdered for preventing the sale of adulterated petrol
- In 2018, Rachna Khaira was named in a criminal complaint for exposing major security flaws in the Aadhaar database.T
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