The lengths to which a government body can go to harass a whistleblower is evident from an RTI reply that discloses it paid Rs 69.24 lakh in lawyers' fees over an 18-month period and the bulk of the money went to Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Responding to whistleblower Abhijit Ghosh, Central Bank of India disclosed on July 1 that it had spent the money on lawyers from October 2008 to April 2010 in order to defend itself against a writ petition filed by Ghosh in the Delhi high court.
Of the Rs 69.24 lakh spent on lawyers for about 20 hearings, Rs 48.50 lakh went to Singhvi, Rs 7.92 lakh to Ashok Bhasin and Rs 9.64 lakh to Vinay Sharma.
Central Bank said its then chairman and managing director H A Daruwalla “approved” engaging the lawyers. It was against Daruwalla that Ghosh, then a general manager, complained about, among other things, putting pressure on borrowers to make huge donations to her alma mater.
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