Hema Committee report: Former Information Commissioner alleges ‘conspiracy’ to delay release

Thiruvananthapuram: A former Information Commissioner has alleged that a conspiracy was hatched within the Kerala State Information Commission to prevent the release of the Hema Committee report, which exposed sexual harassment and other issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

Dr A Abdul Hakeem, a former Information Commissioner, has alleged that an unusual three-member bench was constituted to prevent journalists who had sought the report under the Right to Information Act from obtaining copies and that the proceedings were deliberately delayed.

According to revelations in Hakeem’s forthcoming book, ‘Malayalam Cinema: Hema Committee Paranjathum Sarkar Parayathadum’ (Malayalam Cinema: What Hema Committee Said and What the Government Did Not Say), the Chief Information Commissioner had said that nothing would be done on the matter until May, when the LDF government’s term ended, and that the issue could be considered after that.

The book is scheduled to be released later this month.
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On July 5, 2024, then Information Commissioner Dr Abdul Hakeem ordered that the Hema Committee report be released while ensuring that individuals’ personal safety was not compromised.

After complaints were raised that the government had not provided the complete report as directed, Hakeem alleged that a conspiracy was hatched under the leadership of the Chief Information Commissioner to prevent its full release.

He details the allegation in a chapter titled ‘The Three-Member Division Bench: A Ruse’.

Applicants had complained that they were charged for 233 pages of the report but received only 228 pages, with 15 paragraphs on pages 49 to 53 removed.

One of the complaints was submitted directly to the Chief Information Commissioner but was not forwarded to Hakeem, who was hearing the matter.

When Hakeem considered the complaint available with him, the Cultural Affairs Department submitted the complete Hema Committee report to him in a sealed cover.

As he was preparing to issue an order, the Chief Information Commissioner, who was abroad at the time, called Hakeem and said that another application was pending with him and requested that the hearing be deferred by a week.
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The case was postponed, but he said he realised only later that the move was a ruse. He was not allowed to hear the case thereafter.

Instead, a three-member division bench was constituted for the first time in the commission’s history, he alleged. The arrangement was intended to ensure that, in the event of a difference of opinion, a majority decision could be cited.

When the matter was raised at a meeting of the commission, the Chief Information Commissioner said that no action would be taken on it until May next year and that it would be considered thereafter.

Abdul Hakeem further alleges that the commission later withheld responses to RTI applications, citing a case pending before the High Court.