Protection of Whistleblowers in India: A Corporate Perspective

Sociocultural dynamics in whistleblowing: insights from India

“…Wrongdoings at the workplace are common in India across public, private and voluntary organisations and formal and informal economies, regardless of industry (Barman, 2011;Chaki, 2014;Goel, 2013;Layak, 2012). Given the high prevalence of corruption in the subcontinent (Akbar and Vujić, 2014;Chaddha, 2004), it is not surprising that wrongdoings are commonly associated with financial rather non-financial issues (Barman, 2011;Bhargava and Madala, 2014;Goel, 2013), though both are present (e.g. Chaki, 2014;Kapur, 2013;Layak, 2012), and hence corporate governance is more closely identified with the former (Barman, 2011;Bhargava and Madala, 2014).…”

“…Accordingly, the academic (Barman, 2011;Bhargava and Madala, 2014;Nagpal, 2013) and popular (Dhawan, 2014;Narayan, 2013 (Miceli and Near, 2013). Interestingly, reports of wrongdoing and whistleblowing in the public sector are more common than the private and voluntary sectors in India, despite evidence of corruption in the latter cases (Chaki, 2014;Ernst & Young (EY), 2012b;Goel, 2013). The provisions for complaints and information have led to the idea that wrongdoing is only present in the public sector though, in reality, the private and voluntary sectors are not without blemish (Chaki, 2014;Goel, 2013).…”

“…Present in all spheres of life, Indian workplaces are no exception (Layak, 2012). With India being in the throes of a social, economic and political crisis, marked by lack of morality and ethical bankruptcy that permeates all arenas of life, wrongdoings can only be expected to persist (Goel, 2013).…”

“…In Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler's (KPMG) survey of 1,000 Indian organisations, over 75 per cent of the respondents said that the incidence of fraud overall and specifically within their industries and companies had risen, being carried out by both junior and senior employees (Dhamija, 2014). Goel (2013) believes that the nexus between politicians, industrialists and bureaucrats is the primary driver underlying large-scale and high-level wrongdoing at work, encouraging the percolation and repetition of misbehaviour at lower levels in varying degrees. That Indian business is dominated by promoter families and government holdings in which constituent individuals are closely linked with each other and with political figures through affective and social ties that often span generations could contribute to the situation.…”

Taking it outside: A study of legal contexts and external whistleblowing in China and India

“…In addition to PIDPIR, the Listing Agreement of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) provides principles of Corporate Governance in Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, which came into effect in its revised form in January 2006. And although these principles are mandatory for listed companies (Goel, 2014), it is obligatory to establish the whistleblowing systems stated in clause 49 Annexure ID (7): Clause 49 Annexure ID ( 7) states that all companies may establish and implement a system for reporting unethical conduct, fraud or suspected fraud, and violations of the companies' code of conduct or code of ethics. Existence of this system within a company is to be communicated and employees who report are to be protected against victimization and retaliation.…”