Kerala HC orders release of Justice Hema Committee report on film industry's treatment of women

Kochi, Aug 13 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the State Information Commission's order directing the release of the Justice K Hema Committee report which studied issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

Justice V G Arun directed that the report be published within one week.

The court dismissed the plea saying the petitioner, Sajimon Parayil, has "failed to demonstrate as to how his legal or fundamental rights were affected by the impugned order" of the commission.

While dismissing the plea, the court said that Kerala was the first state to initiate measures to alleviate grievances regarding harassment and discrimination raised by women working in cinema.

"If the measures are to attain finality by implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Hema Committee, there has to be debates and discussions in the public domain, prompting the government to act expeditiously.

"This can be achieved only by understanding the reasons that had led to the recommendations in the report. The media has a major role in initiating such discussions. Therefore, the apprehension that the applicants may utilise the report to malign individuals is misplaced. The apprehension is based on a misconception about the role of media in nation building," the court said.

It also said that the "vociferous request" by the members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), at whose request the Justice Hema Committee was constituted, and the Women's Commission, the body constituted to uphold women's rights, in support of the commission's order, was "an indication of the public interest involved".

The court said that while the Right to Information (RTI) Act envisions an informed citizenry -- essential to curb corruption and make governments and its instrumentalities accountable -- right to privacy is the right to control personal information and protect it from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.

"The conflict between the two rights, information and privacy, can lead to complex ethical dilemmas and legal imbroglio.

"In the case at hand, there is no such conflict, the State Information Commission having incorporated sufficient safeguards in its order to ensure that the privacy of individuals is not breached by issuing copies of the redacted report," the court said.

"For the reasons aforementioned, the writ petition is dismissed," it added.

On July 24, the court stayed the release of the report for a week and the interim order was extended from time to time.

The interim order was last extended on August 6.

Parayil, a film producer, had challenged the information commission's July 5 order directing the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) to reasonably disseminate the information in the report while ensuring that it does not compromise the privacy of individuals.

"While providing attested copies of the Justice K Hema Committee report, the SPIO should ensure that the materials do not lead to the identification of individuals referenced in the said report or compromise their privacy," it had said.

The Information Commissioner, in his order, however, had asked the SPIO not to disclose the details of paragraph 96 contained on page 49 and paragraphs 165 to 196 from pages 81 to 100.

The committee was formed after the 2017 actress assault case involving actor Dileep, to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam cinema.

Even though the report was filed in 2019, the government is yet to release the details as it is suspected to contain sensitive information.

The actress-victim who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films was allegedly abducted and molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.

The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress.

There are 10 accused in the case. Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, was also arrested and sent to jail. He was released after the court granted him bail. The case is pending. PTI HMP HMP ANE