PIL moved in SC for protection to whistle blowers

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) A PIL seeking adequatestatutory protection to whistle blowers in the wake of thegruesome killing of Maharashtra additional collector YeshwantSonanwane, allegedly by an oil mafia, was today filed in theSupreme Court.

The PIL by advocates--N Raja Raman and Ajay Mandyal--cited a number of recent incidents where whistle blowers havebeen killed or intimidated by mafias and political leaders tosilence their voice against growing corruption in the country.

The petition cited alleged scams relating to 2Gspectrum, Adarsh housing society, Commonwealth Games, purchaseof caskets during Kargil conflict and S-Band spectrum tobuttress the argument that those raising such issues have beentargeted by vested interests and there was no adqequatesafeguards in the law to grant them protection.

According to the petitioners, effigy of Janata Partyleader Subramaniam Swamy was burnt in Tamil Nadu after he tookinitiative in bringing into public domain the 2G case.

It said RTI protagonists like Satish Shetty andDattatray Patil were murdered, while other activists likeArvind Kejariwal in Delhi, Amar Nath Pandey in UP and ArunMane in Pune have been subjected to brutal assaults.

The petitioners urged the apex court to direct theCentre to frame suitable guidelines to ensure that complaintsof corruption are dealt with promptly and whistle blowers likeRTI activists, journalists and advocates are given necessaryprotection.

According to the petition, though people likeSubramaniam Swamy and eminent jurist Ram Jethmalani, who hasmoved the Supreme Court for unearthing of black money stashedin foreign tax havens, were enjoying "Z plus" categroysecurity, other whistle blowers were not having any suchprotection.