On Thursday, the Supreme Court took up a petition challenging the Kerala High Court’s order directing the police to register FIRs based on statements made by women actors to the Justice Hema Committee about the abuses they encountered in the Malayalam film industry. The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale, issued a notice on a special leave petition (SLP) filed by film producer Sajimon Parayil. This petition contests the High Court’s ruling from October 14, which directed the police to investigate the matter despite the alleged victims not having come forward to file complaints.
The Kerala High Court’s decision was based on the findings of the Hema Committee, which was established to investigate instances of abuse and exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry. The High Court bench, which included Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and CS Sudha, reviewed the Committee’s report and concluded that the actors’ statements pointed to cognizable offenses. Consequently, the High Court instructed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a preliminary inquiry and, if warranted, file FIRs as per Section 173(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
However, the petitioner, Sajimon Parayil, argued that the High Court overstepped its bounds, contending that FIRs should not be registered when the victims were unwilling to pursue legal action. According to Parayil, the actors’ statements to the Hema Committee, made over six years ago, cannot be treated as actionable “information” under Section 173 CrPC when the alleged victims have not sought criminal proceedings since. Additionally, the petitioner noted that the SIT informed the High Court that none of the women who provided testimony before the Hema Committee were willing to cooperate with the police or give statements in a formal investigation.
In light of this, the Supreme Court issued notice to the State of Kerala and has scheduled the next hearing for November 19. During this hearing, the Court will consider the petitioner’s request for an interim stay on the High Court’s directive.
The petitioner’s legal team includes Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and K Parameswar and Advocates Saiby Jose Kidangoor, A Karthik, Smrithi Suresh, Sugam Agrawal, and Irine Mathew.
The case is listed as *Sajimon Parayil v. State of Kerala* SLP(c) 25250-25251/2024.
