By Our Legal Correspondent
Kochi: A special Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the complaints of sexual harassment and sexual assaults in Malayalam film industry to conduct an investigation into the alleged rampant use of alcohol/drugs in film shooting sets and other connected workplaces.
The Bench comprising Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C S Sudha passed the directive when a few public interest litigations filed in connection with the K hema Committee report came up for hearing.
The court passed the directives in the light of the observation in the K Hema Committee report that there was rampant use of alcohol and drugs in the Malayalam film shooting locations and other film-related workplaces.
The court which had gone through the entire report, including the redacted portion, found that the statements of many witnesses reveal commission of cognizable offences. Hence , as directed earle.ier, the statements shall be treated as ‘information’ as ctemplated under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS( and the SIT shall take necessary action subject to Section 173(3) of the BNSS, the court ordered.
The court also directed the SIT to take all precautions to see that the name of the victim/survivor is not revealed or made public. The name of the victim/survivor shall be masked in the First Information Statement(FIS)/First Information Report (FIR).
The SIT shall ensure that the copy of the FIS is not uploaded or made public.
