The Supreme Court has ruled that a whistleblower who tries to highlight malfunctioning of the Government should not be silenced. A Bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said that the truth should ordinarily be allowed as a defence unless the court finds that it is a deliberate or malicious attempt to scandalise the court or is an interference with the administration of justice. The judgement came three days after the Union Cabinet approved a Bill to give protection to whistle blowers. The ruling came on a petition of Indirect Tax Practitioners Association seeking prosecution of R K Jain, Editor of Excise Law Times, for writing articles which allegedly scandalised the functioning of a tax tribunal, CESTAT. The Bench said that in their view, a person like the respondent can appropriately be described as a whistleblower for the system who has tried to highlight the malfunctioning of an important institution established for dealing with cases involving revenue of the state. It added that there is no reason to silence such person by invoking Articles 129 or 215 of the Constitution or the provisions of the Act. The Bench appreciated the editorial which highlighted the irregularities in the appointment and posting of the member of CESTAT (Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal) by rejecting the allegation of lawyers body it was aimed at scandalising the function of the tribunal. The Bench noted that the Association failed to suggest that the editorial was incorrect or the Editor presented a distorted version of the facts.