Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill approved
The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by Senator Farooq Hamid Naek passed the legislation following a detailed briefing from the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The bill, presented by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar, aims to establish a robust legal framework to encourage whistle blowing while ensuring whistleblowers are shielded from reprisals.
Officials from the ministry highlighted that although a whistleblower protection law has existed since 2017, it remained largely ineffective due to inadequate enforcement mechanisms.
The new bill seeks to address these gaps by forming an autonomous Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission. This body will be responsible for receiving disclosures, ensuring the anonymity of informants, and providing them with legal protection and possible rewards.
Senator Naek underscored the importance of institutionalising whistleblower protection as a means to restore public trust and promote transparency within governance structures.
According to the bill, whereas, it is expedient to provide for establishment of the Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission in order to facilitate a mechanism for whistleblower information relating to corruption and to protect whistleblowers from disadvantageous measures and to give them rewards for such whistleblower information and for matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto.
It says that the headquarters of the Commission shall be at Islamabad and it may establish offices at such other places in Pakistan as it considers necessary. The Commission shall be administratively and functionally independent and the government shall use its best efforts to promote, enhance and maintain the independence of the Commission.
The Commission shall consist of at least three members including a chairperson and the government shall have power to increase the number of members from time to time as it may consider appropriate.
In addition to the whistleblower bill, the committee also reviewed the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which proposes changes to the current laws on diyat—financial compensation for unintentional homicide.
The proposed amendment seeks to standardise the diyat amount at Rs30,600 along with 36 grams of silver. An alternative clause suggests payment in the form of 2,000 grams of gold or one-fourth of the convicted individual's total estate and resources.
Committee members voiced serious concerns about the feasibility and legal implications of these amendments, particularly questioning whether the state could or should pay diyat on behalf of convicts.
Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also expressed doubts, warning that the proposed changes could impose an undue financial burden and raise equity issues.
The committee decided to consult the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for guidance and invited the Ministry of Interior to provide its input at the next meeting.
The meeting was attended by senators, Shahadat Awan, Zamir Hussain Ghumro, Federal Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, and senior officials from the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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