New Delhi: The Centre today told the Supreme Court the amended version of the Whistle Blowers Act, 2011,would be placed before the Rajya Sabha in the budget session starting January 31, with the Lok Sabha having already passed it.
Solicitor-general Ranjit Kumar gave this undertaking to a bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud during the hearing of a PIL by an NGO, Parivartana. The hearing witnessed some testy exchanges between Prashant Bhushan, the NGO’s lawyer and activist, and the bench.
While the original law gave immunity to government servants and others from prosecution under the Official Secrets Act if any information was brought in public domain in larger public interest, the amended version does away with such immunity on various grounds.
The revised legislation, however, prohibits disclosure of information related to the country’s economic and scientific interests, national security, cabinet proceedings, intellectual property and all information received in a fiduciary capacity.
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