Kerala High Court asks govt to submit full Hema committee report in sealed cover
KOCHI: Observing that the revelations in the report submitted by Justice K Hema are serious, the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state government to produce the entire report in a sealed cover.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice S. Manu issued the order on a public interest litigation seeking a directive to the state government to initiate criminal proceedings against those who had committed sexual exploitation and harassment of women in the film industry as found by the Hema Committee.
The women who were deposed before the committee wanted to maintain anonymity. The report indicates instances of sexual harassment and exploitation against women working in the Malayalam film industry and some measures have to be taken. The government could not ignore the report. The parties deposed before the committee were a vulnerable section who do not wish to disclose the harassment in public. If the government did not take any action, all exercise done to constitute the committee would become futile. Therefore action needs to be taken to protect these vulnerable women.
The Bench observed that 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 state 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. The court added that it awaits the government's stand on this aspect and directed it to file a statement.
Advocate General K Gopalakrishna Kurup submitted that the persons who wanted to prosecute the perpetrators could approach the police or courts. Persons deposed before the committee had not so far approached the government seeking to initiate criminal action against the perpetrators of such crimes.He also submitted that the committee was constituted to study the problems faced by the women working in the film industry.And it was not a judicial commission.
The court suo motu impleaded the State Women Commission as respondent in the case.
