The Kerala High Court has directed the state government to submit the complete Justice Hema Committee report in a sealed envelope. On August 19, the abridged version—comprising 233 pages—of the report was made public.
The court passed the order while hearing a PIL seeking to initiate criminal proceedings against the offenders named in the full report. The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government had constituted the Justice Hema Committee based on the request of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), in 2017, post the actress assault case involving actor Dileep. The panel had submitted its report in 2019.
"If any cognizable offence is disclosed in the committee, whether a criminal action is necessary or not is to be decided by this court,” the division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice S. Manu said.
“The government is as of now unable to proceed in this matter for the simple reason that no one has come forward with a complaint. But the fact remains that the report discloses sexual exploitation and harassment of women. How to protect these vulnerable women and what action can be taken against the perpetrators of the crime is something that the Court needs to address.
“Accordingly, we admit this writ petition and await government's stand on this. we also implead Kerala State Women's Commission suo moto in this matter. We also direct the government to make available the entire committee report in a sealed cover before this Court, only one copy."
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According to Bar & Bench, Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup said that the Hema committee is not a judicial committee and was constituted to study and report the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
He also stated that the state government does not have the details of witnesses or victims since the report was made confidential by the State Information Commission. The counsel also said that the victims and witnesses disclosed details before the Hema Committee based on the promise of confidentiality, and that they could approach the police or authorities with complaints for action to be taken.
Further hearing has been posted to September 10.
On Wednesday, Kerala CM Vijayan had said that the government can initiate action against the offenders mentioned in the Hema Committee report, only if any woman who testified before the panel came forward with a complaint.
Vijayan had also dismissed claims that his government was sitting on the report since 2019, saying that Justice Hema herself requested the report be kept confidential due to the sensitive nature of the testimonies.
