The Supreme Court refused on Friday to interfere with an order of the Superior Court of Kerala to register the first information reports (FIR) on the basis of depositions and statements given by witnesses and victims to the Justice Hema Committee regarding the sexual abuse suffered For women in Malayalam cinema.
A bank headed by Judge Vikram Nachh said police officers were required to register FIR and investigate crimes. The court could not interfere, he said.
The Superior Court had reserved the case for its ruling on January 21. However, while reserved a ruling, the court had clarified that the SIT could not register unilaterally 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 procedures against their alleged authors.
The sentence was based on requests presented by a film producer, Sajimon Parayil, represented by the lawyer Senior R. Basant and lawyer A. Karthik, who claimed the Superior Court of Kerala, in October last year, directed the SIT to the SIT Register FIR in each and each statement made by victims/witnesses of the Justice Hema Committee.
Mr. Parayil had questioned the insistence of the Superior Court in the FIR Registry despite the “disinclination” expressed by witnesses/victims. The petition said that witnesses and victims were against taking measures based on their statements to the Justice Hema Committee.
“It is true that witnesses or victims who are harmed people have already expressed their revelation. Therefore, any statement registered in the report of the Committee that was recorded almost five years ago cannot be considered as ‘information’ under section 173 Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), especially when the same is not affirmed later, the same is not affirmed, the same “The petitioner had sustained.
The State was represented by lawyer Nishe Rajen Shonker.
The main defender of Gopal Sankarayanan, who appeared for the group of women in the cinema (WCC) and the victims of sexual abuse, had said that Justice Hema’s committee was a relief for many women. The Kerala industry had a “long history of overwhelming intimate.” It was controlled by a clutch of powerful people. It was the initiative of the CMI to the abuse within the film industry that led to the decision of the state government to establish the Justice Hema Committee. Even the committee’s report was filed for almost seven years. Mr. Sankaranarayan had said that the victims choose to remain silent for two reasons, the loss of profession and the fact that “at the time he describes the set of films, they will identify themselves.”
Published – February 8, 2025 05:30 am ist
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