Information in Hema Committee report will be released; Chief Information Commissioner tells Kerala Kaumudi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Information Commissioner V. Hari Nair told Kerala Kaumudi that releasable information in the Justice Hema Committee report on sexual misconduct in the Malayalam film industry will definitely be made public. He said it is necessary to study the Supreme Court and High Court orders related to this and check if any similar cases are pending in the High Court. The Commission will not intervene in cases under consideration by the High Court. He clarified that the Commission would take further actions after understanding all aspects, including legal matters.

The Division Bench, consisting of Chief Information Commissioner V. Hari Nair, Information Commissioners Dr. K.M. Dileep, and Dr. Abdul Hakeem, will consider petitions related to the Hema Committee report. Decisions on existing and future complaints and appeals in the Commission will be made after the bench sitting. Dr. Hakeem is currently reviewing petitions related to this matter. However, Dr. K.M. Dileep has not seen the Hema report. Hence, the bench will consider the petitions only after detailed reviews. The Commission has warned the media not to disseminate information that has not been officially released by the Commission.

112 paragraphs yet to be released?
There are numerous appeals before the Commission demanding the release of 112 paragraphs in the Hema Committee report, including 11 paragraphs that the government omitted from the report. Just before Dr. Hakeem was about to give a ruling on this matter on the 7th, a stay petition was filed before the Commission. It was alleged that this was part of a move to deliberately delay the release of the parts omitted by the government. This prompted the Commission to form a Division Bench to allow for a detailed review and to provide an opportunity for dissenting opinions.