Unveiling the Whistleblowers
During a sports game, you see how a referee uses his whistle to point out any wrongdoings - illegal play, foul move etc. to stop the player to publicly inform the audience about the same? That is what whistleblowing initially meant. However, today, this term has emerged as a potential threat for the corporate world. Read below to get insights on the same.
The term Whistle-Blower coined in the United States of America in the 19th century took several forms from the positive, honorable meaning of public servicing by alerting them of illegal wrongdoings to negative connotations of being a snitch and an informer. Finally, an activist, Ralph Nader put a positive spin on the term and the journalists began using it wildly as “Whistleblower(s)”.
Now we seem to have an almost legal and well defined meaning of the term whistleblower. According to Economic Times, a whistleblower is a person who comes forward and shares his/her knowledge on any wrongdoing which he/she thinks is happening in the whole organisation or in a specific department. A whistleblower could be an employee, contractor, or a supplier who becomes aware of any illegal activities.
There are two types of whistleblowers: internal and external. Internal whistleblowers are those who report the misconduct, fraud, or indiscipline to senior officers of the organisation such as Head Human Resource or CEO.
External whistleblowing is a term used when whistleblowers report the wrongdoings to people outside the organisation such as the media, higher government officials, or police.
The crime or wrongdoing could be in the form of fraud, deceiving employees, corruptions, or any other act which misleads people. The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 lays down the complete framework to investigate alleged cases of wrongdoing.
Whistleblowers have helped the public many times in history by unveiling the curtains of deceit, lies and shadowy revenues that many significant people in important positions have had to hide. It’s also said that whistleblowers help us to know about a society we don’t really want to know the truth about. The most famous instance of a whistleblower in India is that of Satyendra Dubey,an Indian Engineering Services officer, who exposed irregularities in national highway contracts. For blowing the lid off this scam, he was murdered in Gaya in 2003.
Whistle-blowing is an extreme dilemma. It’s either considered to be the ultimate act of justice or the ultimate breach. I would argue that many of us believe (but may not ever admit) that whistle-blowing is the ultimate breach. Statistics show that employers’ retaliation against whistleblowers runs rampant; in one study, a shocking 82% of whistleblowers experienced harassment after making allegations against a company and a full 60% were discharged from their jobs. In addition, whistleblowers may be blacklisted from future employers, face social ostracism from coworkers, and undergo stressful psychological strain.
The nation was again in uproar over the accusations on Infosys by a whistleblower who alleged that the company’s CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy have been indulging in malpractices from the last several quarters to boost the short term revenues of the company. In a letter to the Infosys board and to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the whistleblowers stated that they have proof in the form of voice recordings and email of alleged unethical practices. It has also been reported that critical information had been hidden from the auditors and board.
While it is difficult to pass judgment and come to a conclusion while the matter is being looked into by SEBI and an internal committee, it makes us realize the value of whistleblowers and makes us question the credibility of highly reputed firms as well.