When Whistle Blowers in India got blown off (Killed)

A whistle blower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The term “whistle-blowing” originates from the practice of British policemen who blew their whistles whenever they observed commission of a crime. Whistle blowing means calling the attention of the top management to some wrongdoing occurring within an organization.

A whistle blower may be an employee, former employee or member of an organization, a government agency, who have willingness to take corrective action on the misconduct.As per Sec.177 of the Companies Act, 2013, certain companies  have to establish Vigil/Whistle-blowing mechanism to report any unethical behavior or other concerns to the management.

How Safe are Whistle blowers in India?

We are presenting cases where Whistle blowers got themselves blown off (Killed) by goons as there is hardly any protection provided to them by the Government. Let us see the first case.

 Case No1.

 Satyendra Dubey (1973-2003) was a project director at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) spots huge financial irregularities in handling of GQ project.Sends an anonymous letter to the PMO with a separate CV attached telling the PM how many contractors had "submitted forged documents to justify their technical and financial capabilities" to win bids for the contract. Requests PM not to reveal his identity. Letter is forwarded along with the CV to the Ministry of Road,Transport and Highways.On Nov 27,2002, Shot dead in Gaya. Case is presented as that of robbery by CBI.

Fixed Assets' Componentization

Fixed Assets' Componentization

IFRS (IAS 16) requires companies to separate fixed assets into their component parts, if the cost of an individual part is significant in relation to the cost of the total asset.  Once fixed assets get disaggregated, companies can more easily account for the reality that different components have unique physical and economic lives.  Assets with shorter lives can then be depreciated at rates faster than those applied to assets possessing longer lives.

India has also introduced the new Companies Act 2013, replacing the old Companies Act 1956. The new Companies Act has introduced a new concept for measurement of depreciation and useful life of assets that is similar to the concept of component accounting under IFRS (IAS 16). This may have a significant impact on the financial statements of asset intensive industries.

Objectives of component accounting:

• To improve and make depreciation accounting more reflective of reality and to facilitate accounting for the replacement of components
• To ensure that the financial position is fairly reflected in the balance sheet and that the income statement appropriately reflects the consumption of economic benefits inherent in those assets