Hema Committee report: Kerala High Court directs findings be released within a week, junks plea seeking stay

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

A committee headed by retired High Court judge Justice K Hema was formed following 2017 sexual assault case on a popular actress in Kochi. The committee submitted the report in 2019 December.

It was hinted that the report mentioned a host of incidents ranging from wage discrimination to sexual exploitations faced by women and even men, especially youngsters, in the film industry.

Citing privacy sought by many who deposed before the committee, the government did not make the report public. The State Information Commission also maintained the stand.

However, the commission recently held that of the 295 page report, 233 pages could be made public.

But producer Sajimon Parayil approached the high court and obtained a stay on releasing the report. On Tuesday the high court rejected the petition and allowed for the report to be made public.

The Lok Sabha MP from Gandhinagar maintained the 'Tiranga Yatra' and the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign have been launched here with the aim to instil the feeling of patriotism among the people of Gujarat.

A group of women in the Malayalam film industry under the banner of Women in Cinema Collective have been constantly demanding government to release the report.

The government also faced criticism for sitting on the report five years after it was submitted. Though the Kerala government came out with a set of draft regulations for the film industry, it did not make much progress.