HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Telangana government and others concerned for filing counter affidavits to the PIL filed seeking direction to the State government to forthwith constitute a high-level committee to enquire into the issues of women’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation (casting couch) in the Telugu film industry and to initiate steps for safety, dignity and welfare of women artistes.
The bench of Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice V Ramasubramanian was dealing with the PIL filed by V Sandhya Rani and six other women activists, complaining about inaction of the TS government in constituting a committee to deal with the complaints of sexual exploitation of women artistes.
Referring to various instances of sexual exploitation of women at work place, the petitioners’ counsel urged the court to issue directions to the government to set up a high level panel consisting of officials from the departments of women, home and labour, women’s rights activists, eminent lawyers and representatives of women artistes from film industry, to carry out a systematic inquiry into the conditions at work place for women artistes and to recommend measures to ensure their safety and dignity. At present, there are no committees to enquire into such incidents in the Telugu film industry, the counsel noted.
The bench observed that it was the responsibility of the State to prevent atrocities against women. The bench issued notices to the respondents - principal secretaries to cinematography and women development and child welfare, and chairperson of State Film Development Corporation, president of Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, State Commission for Women and DGP.