Form special police team to probe offences mentioned in Hema Committee report: UDF

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led UDF opposition on Friday urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to initiate a comprehensive police probe on the basis of the Justice K Hema committee report, but the CPI(M) has said that lodging an FIR based on the panel's findings is not possible.

Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan wrote a letter to Vijayan and state Culture Minister Saji Cherian, urging that a special team be formed, led by a female IPS officer, to carry out an investigation based on the statements and evidence given by the victims of sexual harassment, exploitation, ill-treatment and other human right abuses to the committee.

However, senior CPI(M) leader A K Balan has maintained that courts have held that an FIR cannot be lodged based on the findings of a commission.

"This was the Supreme Court's finding in the Oommen Chandy case. Therefore, the state government cannot suo motu (on its own) lodge an FIR based on the commission report," Balan said.

Cherian said that he and the CM have already explained the government's stand on the committee's report and beyond that he has nothing more to say.

The minister also said that the matter is now before the Kerala High Court and it will decide the further course of action.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said that based on a complaint before it and the committee report released by the media, there appears to be widespread violations of human rights in the Malayalam film industry which need to be examined.

KHRC Judicial Member K Byjunath asked the chief secretary and the state police chief to examine the committee report and the complaint before the commission in detail and submit a response within two weeks about the steps the government intends to take in the matter.

The commission's direction came on a complaint by a Kannur-based lawyer, seeking action against those responsible for the human rights violations mentioned in the Hema Committee report.

LoP Satheesan, in his letter, pointed out that the report has recorded that serious offences have been committed.

He also said that crimes are not committed against an individual alone but against society and, therefore, it is a requirement under the legal system to punish the culprits.

"The government should have a zero tolerance approach towards those who commit violence, including sexual exploitation, against women and children," the opposition leader said in the letter.

He also reiterated that despite the Hema Committee's report of 2019 revealing that serious sexual crimes have been committed, including those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the government shelved the findings and did not conduct an investigation.

This is a challenge to the legal system of the country, he said.

Satheesan also reminded Chief Minister Vijayan that concealment or non-reporting of offences under the POCSO Act is also a crime.

The opposition leader also pointed out, in his letter, that under criminal law, police must register an FIR if a "cognizable offence" is found to have been committed.

He said that the government and police action of not lodging an FIR despite revelation of the crimes committed amounts to protecting the culprits.

Satheesan also termed as disappointing the government stand an FIR cannot be registered and therefore a probe cannot be initiated as there is no police complaint by the victims.

On Tuesday at a press conference, Vijayan had said that the committee never recommended that the matters discussed in the report should be investigated by registering cases. He said that if any of the women who gave statements to the committee come forward to lodge a complaint, there will be appropriate intervention from the government.

The Hema Committee report, a redacted version of which was made public earlier this week, has recorded explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation and ill-treatment of female professionals in the film industry and alleged that a "criminal gang" is controlling the industry where unyielding women are squeezed out.