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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | UN team sees no protection for whistleblowers in India -Vikas Dhoot

UN team sees no protection for whistleblowers in India -Vikas Dhoot

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published Published on May 16, 2013   modified Modified on May 16, 2013
-The Economic Times


NEW DELHI: Whistleblowers, victims, experts and witnesses testifying against or reporting private sector corruption have no cover under Indian laws, a United Nations' report on the country's compliance with the UN Convention Against Corruption has found. India had ratified the pact in May 2011.

UN's Office on Drugs and Crime reviewed India's compliance with the aspects of the UNCAC that deal with curbing corruption in the private sector. It found the country does not comply with four of the seven clauses on corporate graft -including the protection of reporting persons, victims, witnesses and experts - and is only partially compliant with two other articles.

"We have reviewed the existing laws and proposed laws in India and surveyed industry as well as law enforcement officials on these issues," said UNODC's South Asia representative Cristina Albertin.

However, its research teams found most entities "were silent, reticent or cautious" in response to queries about corruption, forcing the UN office to point out India Inc's "reluctance and fear" to discuss graft as a major area of concern.

"Surprisingly, 66% of our survey respondents said that B2B corruption within the private sector is as big a concern as corporate to government corruption," Albertin said, adding that real estate, mining and infrastructure are the sectors considered most prone to corruption in India.

There is a law on public interest disclosure and protection of persons making the disclosures but it doesn't apply to the private sector, the UN body's report said. Neither does the law define victimization or offer any physical protection to the whistle-blower or his relatives.

The UNODC has suggested that India strive for 'clear legislation and an effective institutional framework' to protect those employees from discriminatory or disciplinary action who disclose suspected acts of wrongdoing in good faith.

Two other areas where India has been found falling short on curbing graft in the private sector are bribery in the private sector and 'liability of legal persons.' The law only punishes the "natural person" who is in charge of the affairs of the legal entity, not the legal entity itself. The UNCAC stipulates imposition of effective criminal, civil or administrative liabilities on corporations in whose interest, corruption is committed.


The Economic Times, 16 May, 2013, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/un-team-sees-no-protection-for-whistleblowers-in-india/articleshow/20076742.cms


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