SC refuses to interfere with HC order to register FIRs on statements to Hema panel-OxBig News Network

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with a Kerala High Court order to register first information reports (FIRs) on the basis of depositions and statements given by witnesses and victims to the Justice Hema Committee regarding the sexual abuse suffered by women in Malayalam cinema.

A Bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath said police officers were bound to register FIRs and investigate offences. The court could not interfere, it said.

The top court had reserved the case for judgment on January 21. However, while reserving judgment, the court had clarified that the SIT could not unilaterally register FIRs in the cases of women, who after making statements before the Justice Hema Committee, did not want to pursue the matter or initiate criminal proceedings against their alleged perpetrators.

The judgment was based on petitions filed by a film producer, Sajimon Parayil, represented by senior advocate R. Basant and advocate A. Karthik, who claimed the Kerala High Court, in October last year, directed the SIT to register FIRs on each and every statement made by victims/witnesses to the Justice Hema Committee.

Mr. Parayil had questioned the High Court’s insistence on registration of FIRs despite “disinclination” expressed by witnesses/victims themselves. The petition said the witnesses and victims were against SIT taking any action on the basis of their statements to the Justice Hema Committee.

“Admittedly, the witnesses or the victims who are the aggrieved persons have already expressed their disclination. Therefore, any statement recorded in the report of the committee which was recorded almost five-six years ago cannot be considered as ‘information’ under Section 173 Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), especially when they are subsequently not asserted the same,” the petitioner had contended.

The State was represented by advocate Nishe Rajen Shonker.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) and victims of sexual abuse, had said the Justice Hema Committee was a relief to many women. The Kerala industry had a “long history of overwhelming intimidation”. It was controlled by a clutch of powerful people. It was the WCC’s initiative to out the abuse within the film industry that led to the State government’s decision to constitute the Justice Hema Committee. Even the committee’s report was shelved for nearly seven years. Mr. Sankaranarayanan had said the victims choose to stay quiet for two reasons, loss of profession and the fact that “the minute you describe the film set, they will be identified”.