Hema Committee Report file surfaces; government was aware about criminal offences

Thiruvananthapuram: The government file related to the Hema Committee report has been made public. It has been revealed that the Department of Cultural Affairs had noted in the file in February 2020 itself that there were matters related to criminal proceedings in the report. The file was later submitted to the Chief Minister and the then Minister of Cultural Affairs, AK Balan. However, the police did not proceed with any criminal action, as is evident from the file possessed by Mathrubhumi News.

This file clearly shows what actions the government did or did not take after receiving the Hema Committee report. The 61-page file contains all the details related to the Hema Committee report. It is noted in the file that the report consists of two parts. In addition to the part released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, there are also supplementary documents and a pen drive. It has been mentioned that these were placed in safe custody.

The most significant aspect of the file is that the Under Secretary of the Department of Cultural Affairs had already noted in 2020 that certain matters in the report required criminal proceedings. The file states that some matters in the report require action under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). This file was later presented to the then Cultural Affairs Minister, AK Balan, and the Chief Minister. However, the file indicates that no discussions were held at the government level on what actions should be taken.

The Chief Minister simply noted in the file that it should be examined whether the recommendations could be incorporated into the proposed bill based on the findings of the Adoor Gopalakrishnan Committee. The subsequent discussions in the file were all related to legislative matters. There is no record of any discussion on criminal proceedings during this period. Later, in 2021, the report was handed over to the DGP as a standalone document.