The Kerala High Court directs SIT to probe the rampant use of drugs and alcohol on film sets

The special bench was hearing petitions to investigate the findings of the Hema committee report and take action against the perpetrators.

The special bench set up to hear cases arising out of the report which exposed widespread sexual harassment and casting couch practices in the Malayalam film industry.

The Justice K Hema Committee was set up by the Kerala government in 2017 following a petition by the ‘Women in Cinema Collective’ to study issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

The report was made public on August 19, albeit in redacted form.

Several prominent members of the film industry have since been named as alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes, including rape.

The cases before the special court include a public interest petition (PIL) seeking criminal action against those accused of sexual offenses in the report.

After reviewing the unredacted version of the report, the court noted on Monday that the witness statements from the Hema committee report revealed recognizable criminal offenses.

Accordingly, the Court clarified that these statements were to be treated as ‘information’ under Section 173 (information in cognizable cases) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023 and directed the SIT to act as per law.

The Court categorically emphasized that the SIT must ensure anonymity of victims and survivors during the investigation process.

“The name of the victim/survivor is masked in the FIR and no information is allowed to be made public,the bench ordered.

It further added that the suspect would only receive a copy of the report upon the submission of the final report.