
New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday said that the Central Vigilance Commission was expected to objectively and independently examine the complaints by whistle-blowers against officials and not just act as a post office to forward the complaints to the chief vigilance officer of the department concerned.
"Once they have procedure, they have to follow it" in dealing with the complaints, said a bench of Justice T.S.Thakur, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Prafulla C. Pant pointing out that that CVC can't pass "telegraphic orders".
Saying that the orders passed by the CVC on the complaints by the whistle-blowers has to be a speaking order, the court asked: "What measures you adopt in objectively assessing the complaints."
It further observed that the working of the CVC should be more "effective and transparent".
The court's observations came in the course of the hearing of a PIL by NGO Parivartan seeking protection of the identity of the whistle-blowers including from harassment and discrimination at the hands of those whose acts of misdemeanour they seeks to expose.
"They should come forward if they have problem in manpower and financial resources", the court said as counsel Prashant Bhushan told the court that CVC had just 300 staffers right from the top man to the man at the bottom and suffered both in terms of manpower and financial resources.
Bhushan told the court that given the huge magnitude of the problem, they don't have resources which was effecting their work.
"The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 has created an agency which will suffer from twin problem of manpower shortage and financial crunch," he said.
"And justice becomes a casualty," remarked the court as Bhushan said: "It is like courts which don't have adequate funds resulting lack of judges and judicial infrastructure."
"You can kill a body by starving it of funds," he added.
Taking note of the submissions by Bhushan and apparent deficiencies in the working of the act, the court asked him to submit his suggestion to improve its enforcement, as well as to find out if there were similar laws in other countries and their working.
Bhushan will also give suggestions on make effective the supervision of the Central Bureau of Investigation by the CVC. The court gave Bhushan four weeks file his suggestions and three weeks to the central government to respond to them.
CBI files final report in coal block case
New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday filed its final rep
Former Lok Sabha speaker and first chief minister of the undivided Shiv Sena, Manohar Joshi, died
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on Thursday said there will be a slowdown in
A day later i.e. from March 4, the first season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is starting.
Kharge compared Priyanka Gandhi to Rani Lakshmibai, saying- she is fighting against BJP and RSS.
Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday compared Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi to h
Satya Pal Malik: 'Launching' in opposition politics of Satyapal Malik, told how to defeat BJP?
A new political inning has begun in the opposition camp of Satyapal Malik, who is raining fiercel
Times like These Bring Friends Closer: PM Modi After Trump Thanks Him For Hydroxychloroquine
अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प द
For the record, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has removed MP Raghav Chadha from the post of Deputy Le
Income Tax Return (ITR): The deadline for filing an income tax return for the assessment year 202
Coronavirus in China: Coronavirus has caused widespread devastation in China. Despite the dire si