Whistleblowers Protection In The Indian Administrative Framework
- IJLLR Journal
- Nov 9, 2025
- 2 min read
Deepika, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, School of Law, Bengaluru
ABSTRACT
The foundation of the truly democratic government is due to Transparency and Accountability. Despite of modern welfare state the governance is struggling with corruption, misuse of power and a lack of moral responsibility. In such consequences, the one who brings out or exposes the wrongdoing plays a pivotal role in holding up such mistakes are Whistleblowers. As whistleblower is not a just about filing a complaint the particular act is a remark of courage, where the individual risks his safety, reputation and career to protect integrity and honesty.
After the case of Satyendra Dubey, the engineer who unveiled the corruption took place in Golden Quadrilateral Project and Manjunath Shanmugam who ordinarily exposed the fuel adulteration practices, The individuals who stood up for truth and to protect integrity were killed, which reminded the nation of the high price of integrity, these two tragic cases, the need to safeguard the whistleblowers developed the national attention in India. These incidents underlined the urgent need for a strong legal mechanism to protect those who speak out against corruption.
These incidents took a greater turn and to address this concern in further, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014 was enacted with the objective of protecting the individuals who take major steps to report corruption or abuse of power by public officials. However, the implementation stays vulnerable because of delays in administration, fear of recrimination, and lack of consciousness. Departments like CVC, Central Bureau Investigation (CBI), Lokpal, and Lokayuktas plays a key role in elevating the accountability of administration and aiding the whistleblowers, but these efforts which are undermined by the whistleblowers are always getting interrupted due to ministerial inefficiency
This research paper explores the protection system for the whistleblowers from both law and managerial perspective. The paper also evaluates the efficacy of 2014 Act, which reviews essential case laws and judicial pronouncements which compares India with other global models. It also identifies the loopholes and which provides practical advice for the purpose of improvement. Significantly it substantiates the protection of whistleblowers which is not only the ultimate legal requisite but also a virtuous responsibility for any parliamentary government which aspires to endorse transparency, fairness and justice.
Keywords: Transparency, Accountability, Whistleblower, Corruption, Governance, Whistle Blowers Protection Act 2014, Legal Protection, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Lokpal, Lokayukta, Judicial Pronouncements, Administrative Accountability, Ethical Responsibility, Comparative Analysis.
