Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected the petition seeking a stay on the release of the Justice Hema Commission report citing privacy. The court had sought the response of the State government and Right to Information Commission before staying the release on July 25.
Bench of Justice VG Arun directed that the report be published within a week. While pronouncing the order in open Court, the Judge said, "For the reasons aforementioned, the writ petition is dismissed. The dates mentioned in the order portion of exhibit P3 [impugned order passed by State Information Commissioner] will stand extended by 1 week from today."
Malayalam film producer Sajimon Parayil had approached the High Court against the report's release. The petitioner argued that the privacy of the individuals in the film industry would be violated with the report's release. The petitioner sought a stay on the report's release while arguing that it might endanger those who share information on the film industry.
Advocate M Ajay, appearing for State Information Commission submitted that the petitioner has no locus to approach the court. It was stated that substantial portions of the report were redacted ensuring that no private details of third parties would be revealed and that there was no violation of privacy.
The State Right to Information commission had already edited out 82 pages, 115 paragraphs, and some lines on various pages of the report ahead of its tentative release last month. State RTI Commissioner Dr A Abdul Hakeem also directed RTI Officer of the Culture Department to notify applicants on which parts of the report would be excluded. All five individuals had to pay Rs 699 each to the treasury for a copy of the report.
Justice Hema Committee
The committee was constituted in the aftermath of the 2017 actress assault case, involving actor Dileep, to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry. Besides Justice K Hema, actor Sharada and former IAS officer KB Vatsala Kumari were members of the committee. Although the report was submitted on December 31, 2019, the Kerala government has not released it yet as it was suspected to contain sensitive information. Journalists have approached the Right To Information Commission against this.
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 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 survivor. There are 10 accused in the case, in which Dileep, the eighth accused, was also arrested and sent to jail. He was released after the court granted him bail. The case is pending.
The State government and the RTI Commission however, argued that none of the information that could potentially identify an inividual was retained in the report that was to be made public. The Commission further stated that the petitioner was not among the many individuals interviewed by the Hema committee.
The Kerala government was expected to release on July 24 the findings of the report submitted by Justice Hema Commission, which studied the hardships faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. Sections affecting the privacy of individuals and potentially identifying them were not be published, as per the order of the State's Right to Information Commission. The 233-page portion of the report was to be handed over to the five individuals who filed appeals and complaints to the commission seeking the report which was published five years ago.
