Can corporate governance benefit from an effective framework for whistle-blowing?
A person who chooses to be a whistleblower has to make a very difficult choice, while keeping in consideration loyalty to the fellow colleagues as well as towards the company. Given the great emphasis we place on these loyalty issues, to my mind any framework for whistle-blowing will remain ineffectual. However, if an employee seeks to reveal information on inappropriate acts, any whistle-blower framework should allow for anonymity and access to independent directors on the board. Currently, there is a Bill called the Whistleblowers (Protection in Pubic Interest Disclosures) which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2006 and is still pending in Parliament. On how the media should cover stories of this nature. People obtain much of their information from the media. The media do play a role in shaping the public image and reputation of corporate managers and directors, and in so doing they pressure them to behave according to corporate governance and societal norms. But the media in Ind
