Kochi: The Kerala High Court here on Thursday said that a two-member special bench including a woman judge would be formed to consider cases related to the Hema Committee report that exposed violence against women in the Malayalam film industry. The bench will include Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambir and Justice CS Sudha. More details of the bench have not yet been revealed. There is no clue whether the bench will consider the sexual assault cases.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice S Manu announced the formation of the bench while hearing a plea filed by producer Sajimon Parayil challenging a single judge's decision allowing release of the committee's report. The producer approached the court seeking action to prevent the release of the complete report prepared by the Hema Committee.
The single judge on August 13 had allowed the release of the report by dismissing a plea challenging the State Information Commission's order permitting the panel's findings and recommendations to be made public.
The single judge order came while rejecting the plea by Sajimon Parayil, a film producer, who had 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 it does not compromise the privacy of individuals. Parayil filed an appeal against the single judge's order before a division bench headed by the Acting Chief Justice which on Thursday decided to constitute a special bench for hearing matters related to the panel's report.
The committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealing instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry. Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors in the wake of the report being made public, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.
Meanwhile, the HC on Wednesday will consider anticipatory bail pleas of Kollam MLA Mukesh and actor Edavela Babu who are facing rape charges over a complaint filed by a female actor. Meanwhile, the government has opposed granting bail to the two accused.
