The government is likely to incorporate significant amendments to the whistleblowers protection Bill that will keep matters pertaining to national security, public order, Cabinet papers and foreign relations outside the Bill’s purview.
The exemptions can be seen as a "dilution" of the Bill by activists, but are seen to be necessary after it was pointed out that revealing sensitive details regarding national security could become "lawful" if provisions of the Bill are not altered.
Apprehending a situation where an official in a sensitive post may place sensitive information in the public domain arguing that this was required for the greater public good, the government is making suitable alterations after discussions with BJP leaders.
BJP favours exemptions on grounds like national security, but vetoed clauses offering similar exceptions on grounds like "decency, defamation, morality, contempt and privilege". It was felt such exemptions will rob the Bill of its main purpose — to protect a person who exposes wrongdoing.
Terms like decency and defamation can be defined in legal terms, but are liable to such wide interpretation so as to smother the Bill’s intent to empower a whistleblower. BJP leaders felt these grounds can be utilized to intimidate a whistleblower and suggested that they be kept out of it.
Government sources said that while the Bill was listed for Tuesday, some fine tuning might still be required. It is not clear if all the changes that have been agreed on can be incorporated as the legal implications will have to be studied carefully.
As the Bill has been passed by Lok Sabha, the legislation will have to be send back to the LS if there are changes in the version that Rajya Sabha considers. BJP leaders in Rajya Sabha are quite insistent on security-related exemptions while calling for deletion of others.