Informants should receive appropriate compensation in accordance with policy because they face significant risks in order to provide authorities with confidential information: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has made the observation that authorities should compensate informants in accordance with government policy because they face significant risks in order to provide the authorities with crucial information. [Jayashree Chandrakant Dhavre vs Union of India]
In the current case, a division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Abhay Ahuja directed the Custom Authorities to pay the compensation due under a 2015 policy to the widow of an informant who had provided a tip regarding the smuggling of diamonds worth 90 lakhs by a jeweller in Mumbai back in 1991.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (Anti-Smuggling Unit) Guidelines for Grant of Reward to Informers and Government Servants, 2015, framed by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (Anti-Smuggling Unit) and published on July 30, 2015, prompted the judges to take action after the widow of an informer filed a petition asking for the final reward.

This news is written by Ms. Amrita Singh, Research Assistant, All India Legal Forum.