Usually, when we talk about whistleblowers, there is a perception of reluctance to come forward. We can attribute it to the many perils that may come along with voluntary disclosure. If the chain of confidentiality breaks at any point, one could stand to lose their job or may even feel threatened for their life. One can attribute this loss of faith to our half-baked legislation for whistleblowers. India has enacted the Whistle blower Protection Act, 2014. However, it is only applicable for the receiving of complaints relating to the disclosure of any allegation of corruption or wilful misuse of power by public servants. Interestingly, even though the Companies Act, 2013 and SEBI make it mandatory for listed companies and certain other companies in India to frame a whistle blower policy providing adequate protection to whistle blowers, there is no specific law on whistleblowing applicable to other private employers in India. However, some progressive companies (mainly subsidiaries of MNCs) have incorporated whistle blower policies to extend their global policies, including individual employees or groups of employees and even third parties.
Be it as it may, not all is grim regarding the Whistle Blower policy narrative. One such success story is of Mr. Dinesh Singh Thakur, who made his name and almost $48 million ( 244 Crores) as a whistle blower award in the U.S.! Thakur, a former director of project and information management at Ranbaxy, gave evidence to the U.S. authorities about the company falsifying drug data and violating good management practices. The information triggered a massive investigation that resulted in Ranbaxy pleading guilty to felony charges related to manufacturing and distributing certain adulterated drugs made at two of its plants in India. Ranbaxy was fined $500 million for violating federal drug safety laws and making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The story goes that Thakur was hired to manage R&D information for drug development, manufacturing, and operations. He quickly discovered that Ranbaxy violated industry-standard production practices in all its manufacturing units and falsified data related to a wide range of its product in the African and Far East markets. Thakur claims that when he brought the illegal practices to the notice of his boss, instead of Ranbaxy taking any necessary action, Thakur was asked to destroy the evidence of any fraud or wrongdoing. He confronted the Ranbaxy management, after that resigned, and began his journey of working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expose and document the company’s fraudulent practices. It took eight years of work to get Ranbaxy to trial!
Thakur claims that it was the sheer malevolence of Ranbaxy's actions at such a large scale that drove him to expose the company. Ultimately, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to seven federal felonies, and Thakur received 48 million USD as the prize money!
Currently, Thakur is carving a niche for himself as a public health activist trying to improve the quality of affordable medicines across the globe and improve the health policy in the United States and India. He has also founded MedAssure Global Compliance in Florida, which advises drug companies on quality and safety.
Author: Rakhi Mohanty
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