The Kerala High Court on Tuesday lashed out at the state government for its failure to act so far on the Justice Hema Committee report, which disclosed large scale sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry.
A Special Bench comprising Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and CS Sudha said that the state government had done nothing except sitting on the report for four years even though it had access to the report since 2019.
“Why is the state government inactive or silent from 31.12.2019 to now…When the state government has received a report based on an enquiry or committee set up by its own for gathering information…when the state government is apprised of a malady in society and commission of several offences, what is the bare minimum that the state government has to do? We are curious, rather, we are surprised or taken aback by the inaction on the part of the statement government,” the court said.
“In our view, the bare minimum expected of the state government when it received the report or at least when the DGP was given a copy in 2021, we are in 2024. And the state government has done nothing…One thing is assuring confidentiality of women who may have given the statements, we understand that. You may also have to assure confidentiality with regard to so called persons who have been named in the statements having committed the offence. They do have the right to privacy and reputation but despite all this when the state government is confronted or told that practices which are derogatory to women exist in the society, what is the bare minimum that you should do?” the court added.
The court noted that the report includes facts that warrant the registration of cases under IPC and POCSO Act.
“Why do you say registration of crime is not done when several offences are narrated in a report. Prima facie offences under IPC and POCSO Act are made out. Why no action?…We understand privacy and confidentiality. You can take necessary action. Report prima facie shows many offences, not just sexual offences but about remuneration etc. You can take action and if the victim does not want to prosecute then that is alright. But why cannot investigation be started?,” the court further said
The court also directed the state government to hand over the unredacted version of the Justice Hema Committee report, , to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe offences disclosed in the report.
The court added that the state government is not prevented from taking action on the report just because the SIT is looking into the offences. “SIT can look into criminal offences referred to in report. But there are other issues also like labour issues, economic issues faced by women which must be looked into by the Govt. Such issues have to be dealt with by the government,” the court said.
The Court stated that the SIT will go through the report and see whether an offence, cognizable or otherwise has been made out and proceed to take action as per law. It directed the SIT to submit an action taken report before the government, who in turn will submit it before the court along with their affidavit.
The court has orally warned against a media trial but has not issued a formal gag order. It emphasized that the media should act responsibly and avoid pressuring the SIT to make hasty decisions, as this could undermine the investigation and infringe upon the rights of those involved.
The matter will be heard again on October 3.