Kerala HC Orders Release of ‘Hema Committee Report’ on Malayalam Film Industry

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (August 13) dismissed a plea challenging a State Information Commission order that directed the release of the Justice K. Hema Committee report, which examined the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

A single bench of Justice V.G. Arun instructed that the report be published within one week.

The court dismissed the plea, stating that the petitioner, Sajimon Parayil, was not an aggrieved party, according to his lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangoor.

The court had initially stayed the release of the report on July 24 for a week, and the interim order was subsequently extended multiple times, with the last extension on August 6.

Parayil, a film producer, 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 individuals’ privacy is not compromised. The order stated that while providing attested copies of the Justice K. Hema Committee report, the SPIO must ensure that the materials do not lead to the identification of individuals referenced in the report or compromise their privacy.

The Information Commissioner, in his order, instructed the SPIO not to disclose the details of paragraph 96 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. Although the report was filed in 2019, the government has yet to release the details due to concerns about the sensitive information it contains.

In the 2017 incident, the actress, 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 forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 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, was also arrested and sent to jail, later released on bail. The case is still pending.

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