Court orders Kerala government over delay in Hema Commission report

Kochi Islands:

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday condemned the Left government in the state, saying the government’s inaction on the Justice Hema Commission report was “alarmingly slow”.

A special bench comprising Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and CS Sudha said the government had received the report more than four years ago and should have responded immediately. They had also ordered that the entire report be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for taking required action in accordance with law.

“In the instant case, the conduct of the State Executive has been alarmingly slow. Although the report of the Justice Hema Committee was submitted to the State Government on December 31, 2019, no action was taken for over four years…

“… and even then, a lawsuit was needed to force the state to take action, and that was only in relation to one of the many issues raised by the Hema Justice Committee,” the court said in its order.

The court further held that although the commission was in the nature of a commission of inquiry, public money was spent on its functioning and the commission was chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge, the “bare minimum” the government could have done was to “take a speedy decision” on whether it agreed with the findings in the report.

“Apparently, this has not happened. Silence and inaction are no more options for the State Government, so we are of the view that the State Government should take immediate steps to address the various problems faced by women in our society generally, including the problems faced by women in connection with their respective professions,” the court said.

The parliament further said it was also “appalled” by the government’s negligence in a state where the number of women “has always been greater than the number of men” and the female birth rate has always been higher than the national average.

In such a state, “the interests of women cannot be treated as a minority interest, or their rights cannot be equated with minority rights.” “Therefore, the state must necessarily view the problems faced by women as problems affecting the majority of literate people in the state,” it added.

The court noted that the collective duties of citizens in society translate into a duty of the state and that it therefore “cannot afford to remain a silent spectator to the social and economic injustices inflicted on women in general”.

The commission directed the government to immediately provide a complete copy of the commission’s report, with all annexures, to the SIT, which will then go through the report in its entirety “to ascertain whether any offence, criminal or otherwise, has been committed at the instance of any person”.

Subsequently, the SIT will take appropriate measures in accordance with the law by considering the contents of the report as “information” for the purpose of implementing the law, the court said.

“The SIT takes particular account of the sensitivities to be observed during the investigation and takes note of the legal provisions regarding the right to privacy of the victim and of those against whom the accusations/allegations have been made.

“The preliminary investigation and subsequent action will be conducted in a manner that is fair to all concerned. The SIT will then submit a report on the action taken by it to the state government within two weeks from today,” the court said.

Upon receipt of the report, the government must attach a copy of the measures taken, along with an affidavit, the court said.

The court also ordered the SIT “not to hold press conferences or communicate with the media on any aspect of the investigation conducted in connection with the Hema Justice Committee report”.

It was said that the special team can provide information on the progress of the investigation without mentioning names.

Regarding media coverage of the commission’s report, the court urged that the print, electronic and social media exercise restraint and adhere to an appropriate code of conduct by respecting the privacy rights of the victims and the accused.

It was argued that even an accused has a fundamental right to a fair investigation and trial, and that a trial through the media would nullify those rights.

The court hoped that since the media were keeping an eye on the SIT investigation, they would ensure that the investigation team was not pressured to act hastily through news articles or reports. Therefore, the court did not issue a formal order to restrain the media.

During the hearing, the Advocate General, appearing on behalf of the state, said that 23 cases have been registered based on complaints from female actors.

The Justice Hema Committee was set up by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress sexual assault case. The report exposed cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

After the report was made public and allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation surfaced against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the formation of a seven-member special investigation team to probe the allegations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)