Albert Einstein was once credited with saying, “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Einstein was right; there are not enough people who stand up for what is right. That is the bad news. The good news is that there are always some, and it only takes a small candle to defeat a lot of darkness. But what are we doing to light and encourage those candles of integrity? In truth, not much.

The Justices of the Supreme Court recently rapped the Centre for failing to set up a system of whistleblower protections for those who speak up and bring forth evidence of public corruption. India does not have to reinvent the wheel here. The False Claims Act, a federal law in the US, provides private individuals protection and incentives to expose fraud. The law has helped the US recoup billions of dollars lost to fraud and corruption while protecting the identity of the whistleblower.

How I did it

I was the whistleblower who filed the False Claims Act suit in the Ranbaxy scandal. Ranbaxy paid penalties of $500 million for selling adulterated medicine to health care programmes funded by the federal and state governments. I was only able to help hold Ranbaxy accountable because of the strong legal framework and the guaranteed protections under the False Claims Act. 

My identity was not revealed, even to the opposing counsel, until the very end of the investigation when the plea agreement with Ranbaxy was negotiated. The fact that the False Claims Act provides an iron-clad protection to the whistleblower is one of the primary reasons why prosecutions are so successful in the US.

If India is serious about rooting out fraud it needs to provide strong protection to whistleblowers and incentivise them for risks. In its current form, the proposed Indian law places the onus on the whistleblower not only to report the fraud, but also to prove their integrity. The government should welcome whistleblowers, be their advocate, and use their unique status as insiders to guarantee the integrity of our social programmes.

So what does India need to do to move forward to fight corruption, illegal profiteering, and substandard goods and service sold to the government? Here’s a simple two-step plan:

1. Protect the identity of whistleblowers who report information, and protect them from employment retaliation

2. Incentivise integrity by imposing a system of treble-damage fines, which will pay for the cost of successful prosecution, and whistleblower awards of 15 to 30 per cent of the total collected

Incentivising whistleblowers in successful cases is a win-win for taxpayers. The government recovers public funds it would otherwise not recover, and financial consequences deter corrupt industries from engaging in fraud.

Bringing the False Claim Act to India is not an entirely new idea. The 4th Report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) recommended the idea in January 2007.

In 2011, when the then government was under pressure for corruption, a group of ministers constituted to look into anti-corruption measures made a similar recommendation.

It’s time for India to stop talking, and start moving to fight corruption while strengthening public confidence in public works, goods and services.

The writer was the whistleblower against Ranbaxy Laboratories

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