Delhi HC junks plea for implementation of whistle-blowers protection act

New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday turned down a plea filed for implementation of the Whistle-Blowers Protection Act, 2014, which provides a mechanism to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by public servants and also protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing in government bodies, projects, and offices.

Dismissing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said enactment of laws, formulation of rules, regulations are purely sovereign functions.

In the plea, petitioner and medical officer Dr Mohd Ajazur Rahman said that Section 1(3) of the Act, 2014 empowers the Union government to bring the act in force by the issuance of notification to that effect, but the government has not implemented the Act approved by the Cabinet as part of a drive to eliminate corruption in the bureaucracy. Passed by the Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011, it was passed by the Rajya Sabha on February 21, 2014 and received the President’s assent on May 9, 2014.

During the course of the hearing, advocate Payal Behl, on behalf of the petitioner, submitted that several genuine and bona fide public servants and citizens are facing life threats when they come forward to speak about malpractice and corruption arguing for the implementation of the Act.

The Act intends to establish a mechanism to receive complaints relating to the disclosure on any allegation of corruption or willful misuse of power or willful misuse of discretion against any public servant and to inquire or cause an inquiry into such disclosure and to provide adequate safeguards against victimisation of the person making such complaint and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto.

–IANS

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