Govt to give hc draft policy for protection
The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay high court that it proposed to introduce guidelines for protection of whistleblowers and for taking care of witnesses, vulnerable to threats from criminal and anti-social elements.
A division bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and K.K. Tated was hearing a suo motu petition taken up in 2010, after the murder of Pune RTI activist Satish Shetty. “We shall have two separate set of guidelines — one for whistleblowers and the second for witnesses,” the government pleader told the court. A draft of such policy guidelines would be filed before the bench in the next hearing, the court was informed.
During a previous hearing, the court had asked the government to consider framing comprehensive guidelines for the protection of witnesses and whistle-blowers. After perusing the recommendations made by Amicus Curiae, the high court, in May 2010, laid down measures to be undertaken by the government and directed a committee to be set up to look into the issue. However, the state has not
framed the guidelines yet.
In May 2010, the high court had also directed the state government to form a special committee to undertake the task of identifying social activists and whistleblowers across the state. “These activists shall be identified through a transparent process. The guidelines on how to identify them shall be formed by the committee,” the order
said.
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