On 13 May 2015, the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's
bicameral Parliament) passed a Bill to amend the Whistleblowers
Protection Act 2011 (passed by Parliament in 2014), amid resistance
from the Opposition. The Bill will now be placed before the Rajya
Sabha (the upper house).
Views are being expressed that the Bill is being used to dilute the
effect of the Act. The Act states that any person, including a
public servant or an NGO, may make a public interest disclosure
before a Competent Authority. This would apply, irrespective of the
provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
Section 8 of the Act provided that certain matters were exempt from
disclosure, such as:
information likely to prejudicially affect the interest of the
sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State,
friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or
morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or
incitement to an offence-
- as might involve the disclosure of proceedings of the Cabinet of the Union Government or any Committee of the Cabinet;
- as might involve the disclosure of proceedings of the Cabinet of the State Government or any Committee of that Cabinet.
The amendment bill adds other grounds on which information is exempt from disclosure, such as:
- information relating to commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless such information has been disclosed to the complainant under the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005;
- information which is available to a person in his fiduciary capacity or relationship, unless such information has been disclosed to the complainant under the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005;
- information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes;
- information, which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
- personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual, unless such information has been disclosed to the complainant under the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005."
Because of the extension to the circumstances in which information does not have to be disclosed, it is felt that the Amendment is taking away from the effectiveness of the original Act.
Originally published June 2015.The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
