In her petition, Ranjini said though she gave the statements to the Committee under the promise of confidentiality, she doesn't know what was written in the report.
Published Aug 17, 2024 | 3:40 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 17, 2024 | 4:34 PM
Justice Hema Committee report 's publication postponed after actor Ranjini approaches Kerala High Court. (X)
The Kerala government has again delayed the release of the much-awaited Justice K Hema Committee report. Instead, it decided to wait till Monday for the outcome of actor Ranjini’s plea filed against its publication.
The Justice Hema Committee report was slated for release on Saturday, 17 August. It presents a detailed picture of the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
Actor Ranjini, who gave statements to the committee, moved the Kerala High Court raising concerns about the report’s content. Addressing a TV channel, she said though she gave statements to the Justice Hema Committee, she doesn’t know what was written in the report.
In her petition, Ranjini claimed that she gave the statements to the Committee under the promise of confidentiality. Her appeal will be considered by a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice AM Mustaque and Justice S Manu on 19 August.
“I don’t want to keep the report on hold. The report has been with the government for four long years. Actors, including me, have testified and it is our right to see the report before being published. We need to know the veracity of the statements and don’t want to get embarrassed seeing any doctored ones,” Ranjini said.
She added, “Even when filing a police complaint, the officials will read it out loud before proceeding further. So, it is shocking that the people who testified haven’t been allowed to see the Justice Hema Committee report before its release. I want to check the report and know whether our statements are included in their truest form.”
The Justice Hema Commission, which looked into the problems faced by women actors in the Malayalam industry, submitted a 300-page report in December 2019.
Earlier, Malayalam film producer Sajimon Parayil filed a writ petition before the court challenging the decision of the State Information Commission to publish the Justice Hema Commission report after avoiding any personally identifiable information.
However, Justice VG Arun dismissed the plea holding that “if the measures are to attain finality by the 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.”
He further added, “The media has a major role in initiating such discussions.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Cultural Affairs and Films Saji Cheriyan stated that neither the Kerala government nor his department has any role in this.
He told the media that the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) must act after the publication of the report. The government only directed the SPIO to make a decision based on the High Court order.
“The State Information Commission and Kerala High Court ordered the release of the report and the SPIO should take action on it. The Kerala High Court has asked it to release the report within a week. Neither the Cultural Affairs department nor the government issued any order on release of the report,” the minister said.
Saji Cheriyan also stated that the government took necessary measures to implement the suggestions mentioned in the report and resolve the issues faced by women in the film and TV industry.
He said the safety of women, their financial security, and working hours were being considered. Further, he announced that a women’s conclave will be held in Kochi soon to seek the opinion of the women in implementing the suggestions.
Meanwhile, Saji Cheriyan dismissed reports of issuing an order related to the release of the report on Saturday. He clarified that the government already cleared its stance on the publication of the report.
However, Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson P Sathidevi said the government, which was to release the report on 17 August, probably decided to wait for the High Court to deliver its verdict on actor Ranjini’s plea. The hearing will be held on Monday.
“There are no hurdles in the publication of the report. The Women’s Commission, right from the beginning, is in favour of making the report public,” she added.
The State Information Commission, on 5 July, directed the SPIO to reasonably disseminate the information in the Justice Hema Committee report while ensuring that it does not compromise the privacy of individuals.
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, who worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was allegedly abducted and molested in her car for two hours by a group of men, who forced their way into the vehicle on the night of 17 February 2017 and later fled the scene.
The accused also filmed the entire act on a mobile phone 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 still pending in the court.
(Edited by Y Krishna Jyothi)
