The Kerala high court on September 10 said that it was taken aback by the state government’s inaction for four years on the Justice K. Hema Committee report on working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry. The special division bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and C.S. Sudha, while reviewing the sexual misconduct petitions filed in the aftermath of the report being made public, said, “When the state government is apprised of a malady in society and commission of several offences, what is the bare minimum the government has to do? We are curious, rather, we are perplexed or taken aback by the inaction on part of the state.”
The bench has directed the state to provide the full copy of the report, including redacted pages and annexures, to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to suggest requisite action. The SIT, constituted to probe complaints of sexual assault/harassment in the industry, has been asked to submit within two weeks a detailed report in a sealed cover on potential action based on the committee findings. The court instructed the state to file a counter affidavit along with the SIT’s action-taken report. The matter was posted for October 3.
The court also said that the report prima facie revealed multiple offences under IPC and POCSO Act and also referred to non-sexual issues such as remuneration.