Hema Committee report: Preliminary inquiry into cases to be completed by December-end, Kerala govt tells HC

Kerala government updates Kerala High Court on progress of Hema Committee report cases, aims to address women's issues in entertainment industry.

The Kerala government on Thursday (November 7, 2024) informed a Special Division Bench of the Kerala High Court that the preliminary inquiry being conducted under the close supervision of senior police officers into the cases arising out of the Hema Committee report would be completed before December-end.

The submission was made in a progress report filed by the State government in response to the public interest litigation filed in connection with the Hema Committee report.

The Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice C.S. Sudha also appointed Mitha Sudhindran, lawyer, as amicus curiae to assist the court in the collection of suggestions from various stakeholders in the entertainment industry and others on the legislations being drafted by the government to address issues faced by women working in the field entertainment industry.

The court said that “maximum number of feminine perspectives” could be collected so that the State would not be short of ideas when it works on formulating an enactment. The court said it was trying to get different perspectives, predominantly the feminine perspective, “because that is something lacking in our laws now.”

Of the 26 FIRs registered in connection with the Hema Committee report, the survivors in five cases had expressed their unwillingness to go ahead with the proceedings. However, the team was still trying to collect some other evidence in these cases. In three cases, the survivors identified said the statements attributed to them were not theirs. They said they did not know anything about the incidents alleged in the statements.

However, attempts were being made by the SIT to meet the actual survivors.