File writ petition: Kerala HC to actress against release of Hema Committee report on Mollywood casting couch

A bench of Acting Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice S Manu said that the actress should file a writ petition instead of an appeal.

The court explained that an appeal against the single-judge order would not be considered since the actress was not a party to the case in which the single-judge order was passed.

The court also assured the actress that the writ petition, if filed, would be heard on the day itself by a single judge.

The single-judge order was passed on a petition by film producer Sajimon Parayil who had challenged the report's release. Ranjini moved the Division Bench against the single-judge order in the matter.

The Justice K Hema Committee was established by the Kerala government in 2017 following a petition by the 'Women in Cinema Collective' to study the issues faced by women in the film industry.

Actress Ranjini was among those who gave a statement to the committee as part of this study.

The committee submitted its report to the government in 2019.

The State Information Commission (SIC) later allowed a plea under the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) to publicly release portions of the report after redacting personal information.

Film producer Sajimon Parayil challenged the move at the Kerala High Court. However, on August 13, Justice VG Arun (single judge of the High Court) dismissed the petition.

This order was also challenged by Ranjini, who raised concerns that her right to privacy may be violated with the report's release since the task of redacting sensitive portions of the report was left solely to the discretion of an Information Officer.

In her plea, she highlighted that she had given her statement on assurances that confidentiality would be maintained.

She submitted that she had a legitimate expectation that she would be notified and heard before any part of the report that concerns her statements would be released.

"The State Information Commissioner ought not to have directed the publication of the report without the affected parties including the appellant being heard," the appeal said.

She added that when the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution conflicts with the right to privacy under Article 21, the latter should take precedence due to the reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression.

Advocate Renjith B Marar, appearing for Ranjini, said that the actress should have been notified about the publication of the report and the same is a statutory mandate under the Right to Information Act (RTI Act).

"I was ensured of the confidentiality. I should be informed and put to notice according to the statute and the mandate under Section 11 of the RTI Act," he said.

Hema Committee report:

The newly-released Hema Commission report has exposed shocking details about the Malayalam film industry including casting couch and exploitation of women.

Many women report that sexual favours are often demanded in exchange for job opportunities.

The report further states that Malayalam cinema is run by criminals and there is widespread sexual exploitation.