Whistleblowers Act to be in force only after amendments: Government

NEW DELHI: The Whistleblowers' Protection Act cannot be brought into force till necessary amendments aimed at safeguarding against disclosures affecting sovereignty of the country are carried out, the government today said.

The government informed the Lok Sabha that while the Whistleblowers' Protection Bill, which provides a mechanism for protecting the identity of those who expose corruption, got assent of the President in May, 2014, "the Act can be brought into force only after necessary amendments are carried out. Rules under the Act can be notified only after the Act is brought into force."

Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply that while the bill was passed by Lok Sabha in 2011, it could be cleared by Rajya Sabha only on February 21 this year.

"As the Bill was taken up on the last day of the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha, the official amendments to the bill (aimed at safeguarding against disclosures affecting sovereignty and integrity of India, security of state) were not moved. The proposed amendments are of crucial nature...," he said.

The previous UPA government had planned to bring an ordinance to carry out the amendments but the plan had not materialised.