The cabinet cleared a bill to protect whistleblowers, which is likely to be tabled during the ongoing monsoon session of parliament.
The approval for the Public Interest Disclosure(Protection of Information) Bill, 2010, was given at a cabinet meeting presided by the prime minister.
As per the bill, the onus will be on the central vigilance commission (CVC) to protect the identity of the citizens who provide information about the misuse of governmental authority and funds. CVC will also be empowered to take action against those who reveal the identity of whistleblowers or those who threaten whistleblowers. Those who make frivolous complaints will also be liable to punishment.
The bill also proposes that courts cannot interfere in such cases and will have no power over the decision made by CVC. Revealing the identity of a whistleblower can invite up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs50,000.
The rise in the number of attacks on RTI activists across the country has prompted the government to draft the bill. The murder of RTI activist Amit Jetwa outside the high court in Ahmedabad and the killing of whistleblowers, Manjunath Shanmugam and Satyendra Dubey being the latest examples of such killings.
UPA leaders are hoping that the new bill will act as a deterrent to vested interests against rights activists.
“RTI has been a major achievement of the UPA government. It has created a silent revolution for the common man. The UPA leadership wants the gains of the RTI Act to continue, and the activists to be protected,” an All India Congress Committee office bearer said.
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