Thiruvananthapuram: Denying any attempt to prevent the release of the Hema Committee report, the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Tuesday said that the State Government tried to implement the recommendations with utmost importance. The report contains references to the privacy of many. Therefore, Justice Hema had requested that the report should not be released, the Chief Minister said in a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.

“There was no hoarding in the Hema Committee report. The report contains references to the privacy of many. Therefore, Justice Hema herself had written to the government on February 19, 2020 asking that it should not be released. Some of the women in the film industry made completely confidential revelations before the committee. Therefore, Justice Hema had repeatedly said in the letter that under no circumstances should the report prepared by his committee be released,” he said.

“When requests came to the Chief Information Officer of the Culture Department seeking a copy of the Justice Hema Commission under the RTI Act, he turned them down as the information that violates the privacy of individuals could not be shared. Meanwhile, a journalist approached the Right to Information Commission seeking the release of the report. On October 22, 2020, Commission chairman Vincent M Paul ordered that the report cannot be released under the Freedom of Information Act as it contains references that affect the privacy of individuals,” the Chief Minister said.

The recommendations and remedial measures of the committee were not given separately. Witness statements are also included in the report as part of the examination. Therefore, the Right to Information Commission has made it clear that it is not feasible to disclose the report by observing that it is impossible to divide and point out which one should be disclosed, he added. 

Overruling this order, the government directed the report to be made public. The government's directive was to make the report public by excluding the parts that violate privacy. Meanwhile, a producer and later an actress approached the court. The report was released after all the legal hurdles were over.

“The government has only one policy in this. It has been stated many times by the minister concerned. The release of the report is not against the government in any way. The report is prepared without even the help of a stenographer as much of the material provided by witnesses is of a highly confidential nature. The committee also clarified that they were shared with it because of the trust reposed in it by the witnesses. She typed it herself to keep that trust. The report itself has made it clear that any information disclosed before the committee should be prevented from leaking and becoming controversial,” the Chief Minister said.

The report also pointed out that the committee tried to ensure complete confidentiality of witness statements considering the sensitive nature of various allegations leveled before it by several personalities from the film industry and the consequences they may have to face if they become public.

“The committee itself was adamant that it should not be released. The government has done everything it can do. Will continue to do so. All illegal and anti-feminine trends in the film industry will be strongly tackled. It is not necessary to mention the stand taken by the Kerala Police in the actress attack case. The police have not made any compromise in registering a case and conducting an investigation on the complaint filed by the actresses,” he said.

“Justice Hema Committee did not recommend that any issue in the report should be investigated. Beyond that, the demand to protect the privacy of the deponents has been duly recorded. In cases where complaints have been received, immediate action has been taken,” he claimed.

“If any woman who testified in connection with the Justice Hema committee report comes forward and is ready to file a complaint, there will be appropriate intervention from the government. No matter how high the crime is committed, it will be brought before the law,” the Chief Minister said, adding that no one should have any doubt about it.

Vijayan also said the state government was seriously considering the various recommendations, including setting up of a tribunal and framing a comprehensive Cinema Law, given by the Justice Hema Committee.

He said that the action recommended by the committee against the various crimes against women in the film industry was already being looked into by the agencies responsible for ensuring law and order in the state.