A Malayalam actress who testified before the Hema committee set up by the Kerala government challenged in the Supreme Court the further probe ordered by the Kerala High Court based on statements in the committee’s report. The actress said she appeared before the committee and gave her statement purely for “academic purposes”.
Challenging the Kerala High Court’s order, the Malayalam actress said in her petition that she deposed before the government-appointed committee only for academic purposes and not to further any criminal proceedings. The actress said she gave the statement based on the understanding that it was only for academic or advisory purposes and not for taking any criminal action.
The actress said some of the allegations she made in her statement were “hearsay” and the affected parties have disowned them. The actress also argued that her statement cannot be treated as “information” for registering a FIR to conduct further probe.
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The Supreme Court recently issued notice to the Kerala government after Malayalam film producer Sajimon Parayil opposed further probe based on the committee report. Parayil said the statements in the report cannot be considered as information and a blanket direction cannot be issued while most of the witnesses in the report were disinclined to lodge FIRs. The Kerala Women’s Commission recently filed an affidavit in the apex court supporting registering FIRs based on statements in the report.
The Kerala government set up a three-member committee led by Justice K. Hema to study the exploitation and working conditions of women in Malayalam cinema. The committee set up in 2017 submitted its report to the state government in 2019. However, a redacted version of the report was released only earlier this year.
The Kerala government formed a Special Investigation Team to probe allegations made through media against various artists in the wake of the release of the redacted report. The Kerala High Court later directed the SIT to probe allegations made in the report as well.
