NEW DELHI: The Kerala state government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the Hema Committee report. The government told the Supreme Court that the culprits cannot be spared even if the victims are not interested. The government also informed the court that an investigation is underway to find the accused in 18 cases.

The government has informed the Supreme Court that the names of the accused in eight cases have been included in the FIR. Based on the statements received by the Hema Committee, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe 40 incidents. Of these, 26 cases have been registered based on instructions given by the state police chief. A preliminary investigation is underway in 10 incidents as per the directions of the Crime Branch ADGP. A decision on this will be taken within 14 days. In addition to this, FIRs were earlier registered in four cases. The state government informed the Supreme Court that an investigation into them is in progress.

The Kerala High Court had made it clear that the Special Investigation Team can register a case on the complaint of the victims who gave statements before the Hema Committee. The high court had directed that the privacy of the victims should be ensured and the names should not be disclosed. Producer Sajimon Parayil filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this order. However, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the state government pointed out that a case can be registered if it is convinced that a punishable offence has been committed.