What is the cost of Whistle Blowing?

 Mr.V Saseendran, who was highly qualified as company secretary, chose the Malabar Cements assignment after ignoring foreign job offers so as to stay in Palakkad. However, only after joining the company did he come to know about the lobbying in the government sector institution. When he told his relatives about the corruption at Malabar Cements, they gave him moral support to be honest and upright. He visited his brother-in-law Sanalkumar, who is an award-winning higher secondary school teacher, often in the days before his death and was never tense despite the issues within the company

V Saseendran was the internal auditor and the secretary of Malabar Cements Limited, a state government-owned cement production firm.

Saseendran was the prime witness in the five Vigilance cases registered against Radhakrishnan and others in connection with the Malabar Cements scam case. He was allegedly put under severe pressure by Radhakrishnan on various occasions, with the demand of providing favourable statements in all the Vigilance cases so as to save Radhakrishnan.

Saseendran was forced to quit his job following a Rs 400 crore worth scam that was unearthed in MCL in 2007. The corruption charges were initiated by VACB, an organisation that worked for the protection of public sector undertakings, based on Saseendran's complaint.

The CBI submitted that Saseendran was under tremendous psychological strain due to the threats and criminal intimidation. It further submitted that Sundaramurthy and Suryanarayan also harassed the victim and issued as many as eight memos, even on trivial matters, at the instance of Radhakrishnan, to oust Saseendran from MCL. Saseendran eventually resigned from the company in September 2010, with the resignation being readily accepted by the MD, the CBI submitted.

V Saseendran and his two sons, Vivek and Vyas, were found hanging inside their house at Jawahar Nagar, Kurudikkad, in Palakkad on January 24, 2011. The CBI arraigned Sundara Murthy, MD, Malabar Cements, Walayar, Suryanarayanan, personal secretary to the company secretary and Radhakrishnan as the accused in the abetment of suicide case. According to the CBI, the threats and pressure exerted by Radhakrishnan led to Saseendran’s death. It also stated that the victim was harassed by the other two accused at the behest of Radhakrishnan.

A series of mysterious deaths followed Saseendran’s death. Another witness in the case, Satheendra Kumar, died under mysterious circumstances after being mowed down by a private bus at Ukkadam bus stand in Coimbatore. The driver of the bus was later found dead when the police intensified their investigation into Satheendra Kumar’s death.

V M Radhakrishnan alias Chakku Radhakrishnan, who was arrested on Tuesday, was produced before the CJM court at 1 pm on Wednesday(21 March 2013). The charges levelled against him are under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The probe team (2014) however found that the controversial businessman V M Radhakrishnan alias Chakku Radhakrishnan was guilty of abetting the suicide and intimidating the victims.

The CBI chargesheet stated that Saseendran had written to the chief minister in August 2010 about malpractices in MCL involving its Managing Director Sundaramurthy, his secretary P Soorya Narayanan and V M Radhakrishnan, a contractor of MCL. The three then started harassing Saseendaran in a systematic manner. The probe team pointed out eight memos issued to Saseendran as evidence of the harassment.

The CBI probe team was unable to find any evidence to prove that it was not a suicide and somebody had killed them. Sundaramurthy and Soorya Narayanan were treated as approvers as they had voluntarily confessed their guilt(Sept 04, 2014).

 

Teena, the wife of former secretary of scam-tainted Malabar Cements, V Saseendran, passed away at a private hospital in Coimbatore on Saturday15 July 2018. According to media reports, Teena (52) who was the main witness in the death of her husband Saseendran their two sons. She was undergoing treatment in Coimbatore for the last three days.

According to Janakeeya Action Council chairperson Joy Kaitharam, it is mysterious that Teena’s death comes at a time when the police are investigating her husband and children's deaths. He also stated that the all the witnesses in the corruption case are dying one by one.

Teena's brother Dr Sanal Kumar also reiterated that her death was suspicious as she was only suffering from a fever initially. A few months before his death on 01 Oct 2020, Velayudhan Master and Saseendran’s younger brother Sanalkumar had sent a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) regarding denial of justice in the alleged murder of Saseendran and his two children, alleging lapses in filing chargesheet against VM Radhakrishnan, the controversial contractor with Malabar Cements,

1. What is meant by Whistle Blowing?
2. What is the Legal System surrounding whistle blowing in India
3. List Elements of the Ethics Program you would implement to prevent incidences like that of MCL


clue: 
Q 2: Clause 49 of Listing Agreement as prescribed by SEBI; 
        Sec 177 of Companies Act 2013
        Whistle Blowers Act 2014 with amendment 2015 

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