Satyendra Dubey Case Study
By:Harsimran Kaur
RELEVANT FACTS
Satyendra Kumar Dubey (1973 - 27 November 2003) was a project director at
the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). He was managing the
Golden Quadrilateral, dream project of then Prime Minister. He was the
first person in his village to go to IIT Kanpur.
Corruption in GQ project became rampant, unskilled labour and substandard
materials were in place. Dubey sent a letter to Prime Minister and the
concerned ministry revealing the corruption No protection was provided
inspite of death threats. He was murdered in Gaya, Bihar after fighting
corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral highway construction project.
The murder suspects were arrested but they escaped His death lead to huge
protests in the country In March 2006, a Whistleblower bill was
introduced in Rajya Sabha.
WHISTLEBLOWER BILL 2010
The Whistleblowers Protection bill has been passed by the Union Cabinet
on August 9, 2010. The bill is officially known as the Public Interest
Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010.
KEY FEATURES
It will protect the whistleblowers from any discrimination or
victimization in their workplace. It provides for concealing the identity
of a citizen who discloses information about the misuse of power and
money. Those who reveal the identity of the whistleblower will be held
liable and penalized, by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). The
offenders will be liable for imprisonment up to 3 years and a fine up to
Rs.50, 000.
There will be penalization in case of delays in response, under the Right
to Information Act. A fine of Rs.250 will be imposed for every day of
delay beyond the set deadline. There will be penalization for officials
who try to mislead the CVC. The bill provides for addressing complaints
against public sector employees and employees of the Central and the
State Government. The bill also ensures the honest government officials
are not harassed in anyway but those individuals who file false
complaints and charges will be liable for imprisonment up to 2 years and
fine up to Rs.30, 000.
OTHER CASES
Right to Information (RTI) activist Amit Jethwa was murdered for exposing
illegal mining in Gir Sanctuary in Gujarat allegedly by a ruling BJP MLA
and his family. Jayaraman, 31, an employee in the examination department
of Pondicherry University was found strangled to death in his farm as he
had formally filed a complaint to university authorities that middlemen,
with the connivance of university officials, were involved in large-scale
tampering of answer papers and mark sheets in MBBS exam.
V Saseendran, former company secretary of state run(Kerala) Malabar
Cements, who was found dead along with his two young boys on January 24
inside his house at Palakkd as he raised voice against irregularities and
corruption in Malabar Cements.
VIJAY BHADUR SINGH Observed that manipulation was being committed by
senior officers of the Finance Ministry and Senior Counsel. The email was
forwarded, resulting in an issuance of memorandum to him by Commissioner
of Customs (Exports), Mumbai. His brother was killed in a road accident
on 6 April 2003 after he submitted a reply to the memorandum. Singh had
the Navleen Kumar Award conferred on him in 2004 by PCGT for working
towards a corruption free society. He has since been victmized by senior
officers of Customs and two charge sheets have been issued to him. He has
opted for voluntary retirement from service in order to further expose
corruption in the department.
LEARNINGS
Identity whistle blowing whistle should be kept secret Proper security
should be asked and ensured Smart and intelligent steps are required to
change the system
It should be with as much specific factual information possible (report
what you know, but don’t investigate —leave that to the experts!)