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Ethics Case Study 27 | INSIGHTS

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BY INSIGHT S | NOV EMBER 4 , 2 0 1 3 1 1 :3 0 A M

Ethics Case Study 27

Et hics Case St udy - 27
Arun joined a large priv ate coal based power producing firm as a Graduate Trainee. After one y ear of training at different facilities
of the com pany he was finally posted at a production unit. In the past one y ear of his serv ice, Arun had av ailed a loan of INR 3 Lakhs
from the com pany to pay off his education loan. He had tough financial background and this benefit so early in the serv ice won the
com pany a great adm iration to Arun.
For past sev eral day s Arun has been m aking an observ ation at this unit. Late in the nights the chim ney of the unit spills off an
unusual black sm oke. He noticed it for a few day s until upon som e enquiry he found out that the ESPs (dev ice to separate coal ash
from the sm oke finally going to chim ney ) are switched off to sav e power as they consum e a substantial power produced to run them .
Arun knows that this is in v iolation of the law. ESPs shall m andatorily run in a coal based power plant of a unit as this. Switching
them off in a running plant v iolates the env ironm ental laws. Moreov er in the long run this practice shall degrade the atm osphere of
this area. He talks to his m anager but the m anager asks him to keep off this and explains him that this com pany m akes huge
m oney sav ing power by keeping ESPs off for a few hours daily . And he further cunningly say s that no one can see sm oke late in the
night in this sparsely populated forest area. A few day s later Arun gets a chance to see his unit head. He puts the issue back. The
unit head warns him of dire consequences if he further raises this issue. He also threatens him to sack. Next m orning Arun is serv ed
with a show-cause notice against som e irregularities in his work and his identity card has been blocked for an autom atic
attendance. His presence in the office was recorded in person by another staff but without his signature.
Arun wants to com plain this v iolation of env ironm ent to gov ernm ent authorities but in doing so he will finally hav e to lose his job
and loan repay m ent is a burden he cannot bear. If sacked on corruption charges, he faces a chance of career blockade.
Suggest a pat h ahead for Arun. (150 words)
By Prasoon Kaushik
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Case Study 27
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Gour Hari

Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 :1 6 pm

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The show cause notice to Arun is to threaten him that if y ou dont follow seniors then there are troubles waiting for y ou. The
dilem m a is that whether he should go along the com pany s benefit which has helped him in a big way or care for the all
stakeholders of the society .
He should understand his v arious responsibilities and peripheral conditions inv olv ed towards different entities and then choose
what is legitim ate.
1 . Being em ploy ee of a com pany , he is responsible for the betterm ent of the organisation. The m eans to perform the
responsibility should be legitim ate and ethical.
2 . Being part of society , he has responsibility towards the society and protect their interest. Any thing dam aging the society
should be prev ented.
3 . Being an indiv idual, he has som e responsibility towards him self to keep his dignity m aintained.
The steps he need to follow are;
1 . He should reply the show cause notice with substantial factual backing and he should not afraid because he has not com m itted
and wrongs.
2 . He should discuss the issue of ESPs with higher authorities. He should not m ix the two issue of show cause notice and ESPs. If
he is done with all the possible option with the com panies authority , he should blow the whistle and face the consequences.
In doing so, he would sav e him self and society both. If he fails to act according to what he considers wrong, he will be v ictim of
guilt. So in order to keep society and him self protected, he should act what he feels is right and just. And of course , he will hav e
to pay the price for it.
Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :02 pm
Hari,
You hav e suggested steps which hav e their m erit but other challenges rem ain unaddressed like the tentativ e corruption
charge he m ay face or how can he substantially back his claim s of irregularities etc.

Reply

Gour Hari
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :2 4 pm
Yes, y ou are right Prasoon. I should elaborate the point, how to deal with the act of whistle blowing? Two im portant
points:
1 . He should first exhaust all the possibilities for redressal of the m isconduct within organisation.
2 . Before whistle blowing, he should m ake it clear that he has enough ev idence to prov e it. Otherwise, in the end he will
hurt him self and there will be no final gain from his action.
If he is standing against the corrupt practices, there is no other option than suffer for som e tim e. Corruption charges and
other disciplinary action against the protagonist is v ery m uch expected. But he will get his chance to prov e his point if he
is right.
Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 4 :2 9 pm
Hari,
Extended answer is good

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If possible then rephrase y our answer in the word lim it.

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Extended answer is good

If possible then rephrase y our answer in the word lim it.

All the best

Reply

Vijay Pateriya
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 8:1 1 pm
com e on show cause notice was for his work irregularities not for the com plaint.
Further y ou m entioned he will safe him self and society both .How????????????
Reply

Gour Hari
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 0:1 8 pm
I agree with y ou. Did I defer to it? This is the reason I am say ing that the two things should be dealt differently .
By following law, his intention is to av oid the the dam age to env ironm ent. Thus he intends to sav e the society . At the
sam e tim e, he follows what he feels right. Not following it, he will fill guilty and in long run it will dam age him . Thus
acting ethically , he sav es him self.
Suggest please!!
Reply

Sunaina
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 2 :2 1 pm
The present situation tests the priv ate interest v s public interest at large. one should be fair and square in ones duties. Aruns
com pany is operating the com pany by v iolating the env ironm ent norm s set by the gov ernm ent.its v iolations are not only
against the law but also it is causing m ajor health issues for the people at large.So Arun m ust report to the gov ernm ent
authorities about the com pany s operations withourt worry ing for his job.As honesty and good work alway s pay .He will find
good job in other organisation.It this com pany charges him with corruption charges.it will not affect him as com pany s own
reputation will already be m arred because of its v iolations of env ironm ent laws and m isguidance.
Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :07 pm
Sunaina,
No doubt that honesty alway s pay s. But here Arun m ay face crim inal or defam ation charge if he reports it to authorities and
fails to prov e his claim s. He further has a financial obligation defaulting which m ay again warrant crim inal charges.
Your answer has prospect to look into other dim ensions as well.
Wish y ou good luck
Reply

Sourabh
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 2 :4 2 pm
The show cause notice serv ed to Arun was to m ake him fall in line with unethical practice in the com pany .
Howev er, Arun cannot take on the seniors head on. Because the Show cause notice will likely be taken as a tool to put the blam e
on Arun. This also does not m ean that he should close his ey es on the issue.
He should stay there collect further ev idence against that practice of the com pany and when he has enough ev idence against
the practice of the com pany , he should report it to com petent authority .
But it is likely that com pany will sack him for som e irregularities, because there is no protection laws for whistle blowers in
India.
With, the ev idence he can inv olv e local m edia or NGOs who can report it to the authority which will prev ent direct
confrontation with the authorities, which will also giv e him chance to m onitor the situation further and also keep his job.

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Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :03 pm
Sourabh,
Civ il society s help is indeed a welcom e step.
Reply

Adeeb Pathan
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :2 3 pm
Since the interests of the com pany are illegitim ate and unethical any way s, the real conflict here lies between Aruns self
interest and his duty towards the state and society at large.
1 ) Fly ash when inhaled can cause sev ere respiratory problem s and ev en cancer for the com pany em ploy ees and surrounding
forest dwellers.
2 ) A person who does not rem edy the crim e ev en though he has a chance, is as guilty as the perpetrator him self.
3 ) If whistleblowers like Arun choose to rem ain silent, corporations around the world would shed their social responsibilities.
4 ) The job prom otions, loan repay m ent and adv ancem ent that Arun enjoy s hereafter would be at the expense of a huge dam age
to the disadv antaged sections of the society and no person with a clear conscience can enjoy it.
Arun, with the help of NGOs, m edia and all affected parties m ust confront the com pany officials and pursue legal action if the
com pany fails to rem edy the situation.
Reply

Adeeb Pathan
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :2 9 pm
Actually m any points rem ain to be addressed in m y answer like Arun cannot be fired without cause as per Indian laws and
he has done nothing wrong. He is bound to get repreiv e by court ev entually . The only way the com pany can reclaim their
loan am m ount is through litigation and Arun should try to get the term s of the loan restructured at this hearing and bring
it to the notice of the court that he is unable to pay as the com pany wrongfully term inated his em ploy m ent.
Ev en though highly tem pting to add these points, I chose to respect the word lim it
Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 4 :3 3 pm
Adeeb,
Your logic is right. Indeed v ery true :). But how shall Arun react? Suggest a solution.
Reply

Adeeb Pathan
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 6 :2 8 pm
Yeah Actually I ran outta space, so m any things to write. But y ou are correct. I m ust learn to wrap ev ery thing up like
the course of action and justification in 1 50 words or UPSC will giv e m e a hard tim e!! Thankx a lot for the feedback !!
Reply

Venu
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 3 :4 2 pm
This case posed following challenges, protecting Personal Integrity and to check the grav e v iolation of laws by the power plant,
which is going to affect forests and ultim ately peoples liv es.
As a part of protecting m y personal integrity , first, I will check, on a safe note, whether there are any irregularities in m y work
or not. In case I find any such irregularities, I will correct them along with sending a detailed reply to the show-cause notice
issued to m e. Also will send a copy of m y reply to the State head office.
Incase if the com pany has any internal griev ance reddressal m echanism then, I will m ake use of that platform to fight against

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Incase if the com pany has any internal griev ance reddressal m echanism then, I will m ake use of that platform to fight against
the discrim ination m eted out to m e. If not m ake a form al com plaint about work situation to the State head. I will take help of
local unions to fight this case.
Since I had a great adm iration to the com pany , first I will try to report the law v iolations and behav ior of m y m anager and area
m anager to the state head. Ev ery State pollution control boards are equipped with online pollution checking m echanism at all
coal based plants, I will use this inform ation while reporting to state head.
Ev en if I didnt get a positiv e response from the state head, I will report anony m ously to the local NGOs, fighting on
env ironm ental problem s and press along with a detailed report of estim ated loss happened.
Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 4 :3 9 pm
Nice answer :). Practical solution suggested. Internal griev ance redressal and reporting to higher authorities within the
organisation first is a right approach.
Reply

Vijay Pateriya
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 8:1 9 pm
Local unions and NGOs are not option in this case as far as i think.
Further for internal redressal he had already tried it upto his superior unit head and his rem arks suggests that its alm ost
a determ ined issue in the com pany and the logic is to directly go out in public and to wait for an NGOs efforts didnt think
could pay .
Reply

Venu
Nov em ber 5, 2 01 3 at 4 :53 pm
Hi Vijay ,
First, regarding internal griev ance, I had priv ate work experience; in that com pany there are two way s for reddressal
1 . We can take a issue up to two lev els of m anagem ent and if there is no proper response we can log our griev ance to a
griev ance reddressal com m ittee.
2 . The other way is, we can directly send the issue to the com m ittee. Then the com m ittee wont take direct action on
that, they refer that com plaint to appropriate lev el and if that is not resolv ed at that lev el then com m ittee will look
into that case.
I had that in m ind while answering this case study .
The m ore im portant thing is, I want to m ake sure to exhaust with the existing options, More ov er till that point of
tim e there isnt any form al com plaint raised. So I thought form al com plaint to State head would be better option to
check first.
The other option I thought was to by pass all lev els and anony m ously report to the m anagem ent board about
env ironm ental v iolations and its im pacts of such v iolations. For m e this case seem s less preferable than the prev ious
one.
In case study , I didnt find strong support for the assum ption that, the v iolation was known to all lev els of
m anagem ent.
Regarding Unions, I thought unions act as effectiv e pressure groups and further they can be used as supporting
witness. Therm al power plants will generally hav e unions.
I preferred both Civ il Society and Press to check the issue.
I hav e a prem ise in m y m ind while choosing press along with NGOs.
In our state, all engineering departm ents including pollution control board, are hav ing a separate resource allocated
for checking daily press releases for v arious problem s and v iolations, say for exam ple water contam ination, sewage
problem s, electricity problem s, pollution problem s etc and file them as com plaints and follow up the cases.

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Thanks for y our opinion.
Venu Kesam
Reply

Venu
Nov em ber 5, 2 01 3 at 4 :4 9 pm
Thanks for y our rev iew Prasoon.
Reply

jyoti
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 4 :02 pm
Theres conflict between ones personal interest and social responsibility . Arun, first of all, should collect as m any ev idences as
possible and should contact the com petent authority , first in the firm itself, to bring to their notice regarding the wrongdoings. If
no step is taken then definitely he should inform the gov ernm ent officials and also m ust prov ide one copy of ev idences to the
m edia so that the case can be brought in open.
As theres no act for protection of whistleblowers in our country , hell hav e to suffer but as the case will com e in open through
m edia, hell definitely be cleared of the fake charges the firm puts on him and will get a decent job and will be able to pay off his
loan..
P.S. I dont know whether he can ask for extension from bank or court for the loan repay m ent. If y es, then he should file in for
that as well..
Reply

Jitendra Gupta
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 5:3 0 pm
Whistle-blowing is v ery tough giv ing precendence to greater cause of society at large than personal and professional com fort. For
this, one has to be too ethical in conduct though lastly he m ust hav e to be labelled to be unethical. For this, Arun m ust prov e
that he is right with respect to the com pany s policies. Only if he com es clean, he can raise his v oice further. He will hav e to play
two sided. First he would hav e to prov e his honesty towards his work in office prem ises. Secondly he would hav e to take help of
NGOs/civ il societies to collect and analy ze data around the office for last few y ears for env ironm ental degradation, and if possible
take pictures of the black sm oke com ing out of the chim eny es. This would giv e tim e to Arun to pay greater part of the loan.
Further Arun can aks the NGOs to file PIL with the ev idences that would ensure that the com pany would stick to env ironm ental
guidelines in future. Ev en if the com pany s wrong-doing is prov ed, Arun m ust be in shades as no com pany would prefer a person
to hire who harm s the com pany .
Reply

Jitendra Gupta
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 5:4 1 pm
Further Arun can aks the NGOs to file PIL with the ev idences that would ensure that the com pany would stick to
env ironm ental guidelines in future.
The abov e line could hav e better been written as Further Arun can ask the NGOs to lodge com plaint with the ev idences
with the com petent authorities, and this would ensure that the com pany would stick to env ironm ental guidelines in future.
PIL cannot be lodged against a priv ate com pany .
Reply

NAWIN
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 5:4 9 pm
who told, PIL can be lodged on any person if public right/interest is in danger or v iolated
Reply

Jitendra Gupta
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 6 :06 pm

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This is m y reference:
http://www.karm ay og.org/pil/pil_1 07 2 0.htm
Reply

NAWIN
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 9 :2 8 pm
Against Whom :
A Public Interest Litigation can be filed only against a State j Central Gov ernm ent, Municipal Authorities, and not
any priv ate party . Howev er a Priv ate party can be included in the Public Interest Litigation as a Respondent,
after m aking the concerned State authority a party . For exam ple, in the case of a priv ate factory in Delhi, causing
pollution, then people liv ing in its v icinity or any other person can file a PIL against the Gov ernm ent of India, the
State Pollution Board and also against the priv ate factory .
Howev er, a PIL cannot be filed against the priv ate party alone; the concerned State Gov ernm ent, and State
authority has to be m ade a party
i found in sam e site..jitendra gupta
Reply

Jitendra Gupta
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 6 :1 0 pm
@Prasoon: Please rev iew m y answer.
Reply

Prasoon Kaushik
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 8:3 6 pm
Hi Jitendra,
Your answer is satisfactory .In the giv en word lim it y our answer appears natural. When y ou write he shall com e clean
then y ou could hav e suggested som e option. Say writing a letter form ally to the head and a copy to the head quarters
so that his griev ances are form ally counted official.
PIL through an NGO is v ery m uch possible as indiv idually filing a PIL m ay lead to rejection. And y ou hav e pointed it
right that in the giv en case one needs tim e to both prov e him self right and in the m eantim e collect data to prov e the
charges.
Ev ery exam inee will hav e a host of ideas flooding. A few points logically defended will alway s suffice
Reply

Vijay Pateriya
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 8:2 9 pm
Issue inv olv ed is personal v ersus Larger public intrests.
Further honesty and integrity are also under question.
Arun owes a lot to the com pany and stakes a lot on the job.
For the show cause notice he m ust present his working profile and perform ance,outcom es as proof of his ability which is been
questioned.
He m ust clear to the authorities regarding his attitude towards the work and the v iolation of law along with the future left
course of com plaint to gov ernm ent.
But concealing the v iolation laws is not an option instead he should com plain to the potent authority as soon as possible no
m atter the consequences for his personal intrests m ight be tough.But his action will lead to awakning of gov ernm ent authority
to the issue which m ight rev iew the working of other com panies and m ay well deal with the issue at right tim e which could
hav e been a norm .This will help both the gov ernm ent as well as env ironm ental efforts.
For sure the consequences for his personal carrier m ight be tugh but in tim e his whistle blowing effort could generate enough
publicity and response to shade off the corruption charges and ev en will lend weight to his personality and character :honesty
alway s is v irtuous.
Reply

Prasad
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Prasad

Ethics Case Study 27 | INSIGHTS

Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 1 :3 5 pm
Arun s com m itm ent towards work & him getting a loan early in his career indicate his reliability , honesty & trustworthiness.
Arun has certain responsibilities assigned to him by the com pany & he should abide by them and not flout norm s according to
his superior. In the scenario presented, Arun should hav e filed a written com m unication to his superior stating the dev iation/
ignorance. A second v ersion should also hav e been done later, failing to do it has landed him in trouble. He should counter the
Unit Head n com pel him to take responsibility of the situation. Parallely he should m ake this known to trusted colleagues to
garner support and com pany superiors abov e unit head to help them understand sev erity of
http://www.scribd.com /doc/1 6 4 4 2 7 2 2 /Portfolio situation & sav e the reputation of the com pany in tim e. This action will bring
him a lot of encouragem ent in term s of incentiv es n support from the com pany
Reply

Prasad
Nov em ber 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 1 :3 8 pm
Sorry there was a link that got into the text abov e
Here is m y reply :
Arun s com m itm ent towards work & him getting a loan early in his career indicate his reliability , honesty &
trustworthiness. Arun has certain responsibilities assigned to him by the com pany & he should abide by them and not flout
norm s according to his superior. In the scenario presented, Arun should hav e filed a written com m unication to his superior
stating the dev iation/ ignorance. A second v ersion should also hav e been done later, failing to do it has landed him in
trouble. He should counter the Unit Head n com pel him to take responsibility of the situation. Parallely he should m ake this
known to trusted colleagues to garner support and com pany superiors abov e unit head to help them understand sev erity of
situation & sav e the reputation of the com pany in tim e. This action will bring him a lot of encouragem ent in term s of
incentiv es n support from the com pany
Reply

ashish
Nov em ber 5, 2 01 3 at 1 :3 9 am
This inv olv es a question of corporate gov ernance, Arun need to discuss the im plication of this illegal act of the com pany with a
higher authority , one lev el abov e the unit head, without any written form al com plaint/com m unication
Following need to be brought to higher authority notice;
1 . v iolation of env irnm ental law is an offense, ev en if due to ignorance,with penal prov isions affecting the ov erall business of the
com pany .
2 .loss of reputation of the com pany in the m arket in long term
3 .loss of probable gov ernm ent contracts/PPP/joint v entures in future
4 affect on the career prospects of em ploy ees from lower to the topm ost lev el
5 possible whistle blowing activ ity on this issue and inv olv em ent of civ il society organisations against the com pany `s activ ities
Reply

Anjali
Nov em ber 5, 2 01 3 at 2 :50 am
Aruns honesty and ethics are tested in this study .
First Arun should reply to show cause notice with proofs of his sincere and dedicated work.
Second about pollution, he should not go for unilateral action. As there are m any cases people lost their liv es on blowing whistle.
Here Arun has to sav e his job but he has som e obligations towards society too. He should secretly write to som e env ironm ental
NGO in the area about the issue. As NGO hav e better facilities and experience to gather ev idence and then raise the issue they
can better handle the situation.
Reply

Krishna
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Krishna

Ethics Case Study 27 | INSIGHTS

Nov em ber 5, 2 01 3 at 4 :3 1 am
The m ain issue in the abov e case is Aruns dilem m a to blow the whistle. He is constrained by his job at stake as well as financial
loan he receiv ed. These m ight be the consequences if Arun blew the whistle.
On the other side, if Arun is totally silent on the issue, he m ight feel m orally obliged and also dissatisfied with the work culture of
the com pany . This m ay hence affect the perform ance of his work as already undesired things to pressurize him hav e started
happening.
Therefore, Arun should first consider the option of writing a case for switching on the ESP s and its long-term benefits. This is to
be giv en in writing to head of the organization or to the one next in hierarchy he can get to, through an em ail or a letter. If
appropriate steps are still not taken, Arun should inform the concerned Gov ernm ent authorities. This stem s out of two reasons.
Firstly the fact that pollution is harm ful to the large biodiv ersity and other dwellers (consequence) and secondly the whole issue
of Arun sticking to his integrity .
Reply

Nikku
Nov em ber 1 1 , 2 01 3 at 8:2 5 pm
Arun needs to first reply to the show cause notice. If there are irregularities in his work, then he needs to face the consequences of
those, but if this is just a tool of harassm ent then his reply should take care of it.
He then needs to approach the person who is abov e the unit head. He needs to lay down his case and send an em ail or a letter in
writing. Som ething that could serv e as a proof if required later.
If this does not work, he should report the m atter to the concerned gov ernm ent authorities and be prepared to face the
consequences.
Sacking Arun on the basis of corruption can not happen arbitrarily , as the doors of the laws are alway s open for him .
Also, the financial burden is worrisom e, but giv en his credentials, he should be able to land up a job with som e struggle, ev en if
it is not as high pay ing one.
Plus working in an unethical organization was any way s nev er going to be a v ery fulfilling career.
Reply

neeraj
Nov em ber 1 2 , 2 01 3 at 1 1 :2 3 am
arum has to choose between his duty and financial stability .
Arun has been serv ed a show cause notice regardim g irrwgularities. He should answer the show cause notice to prov e his
innocence. He should attach relev ant docum ents whereev er necessary . he should also m ention that he is being harassed cause
hw has pointed out deliberate v iolation of env ironm ental laws. This will help him from being im plicated in corruption case and
being fired.
Also he m ust giv e a written com plaint about gross env irpental v iolation to his superior and keep a reciev ed copy to produce at a
later stage. This will ensure that he acted with responsibility . He can show his reciev ed copy if he is m ade accountable for gross
env ironm ental v iolation by his com pany or the pollution board.
Reply

Aditya
Nov em ber 1 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 1 :2 7 pm
Since env ironm ental and legal norm s hav e been flouted, action of Arun m ust be aim ed towards seeing that the perpetrators are
m et with justice. In doing so, he will contribute towards com m on good good quality env ironm ent, and ethical social norm s, for
which som e sacrifice has to be done. It will be an act of integrity and courage on his part which will also prov e to be beneficial to
the com pany in the long run since dam age done will be considerably less. Howev er, he m ust also ensure that he is not punished
for his courage as that will not only create difficulties for him but also deter other honest persons who m ay face sim ilar dilem m a
in future.
Thus, he m ust giv e a correct response to the show cause notice, and during the interim period inform the top m anagem ents of
his com pany about the situation. He should dem and for an objectiv e inquiry into the m atter. He should also ask them to inform
to gov t. authorities about the incident. If possible he should collect concrete ev idences and disclose the m atter to authorities
him self if top m anagem ent are reluctant, since the m atter goes bey ond his com pany and affect the society at large.

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