Kerala High Court Expands Nodal Officer's Authority to Address Film Industry Grievances
Click to start listening
Kochi, Dec 19 (NationPress) The Kerala High Court announced on Thursday its decision to broaden the authority of the nodal officer to receive harassment complaints from members of the Malayalam film industry who were not part of the Justice Hema Committee's proceedings.
The court emphasized that all individuals with complaints must submit them to the nodal officer by January 31.
Furthermore, it instructed that upon receiving such complaints of harassment or abuse, the nodal officer is permitted to convey these to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) established by the Kerala Police for further examination.
The Special Bench, consisting of Justice A. K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice C. S. Sudha, had previously directed the SIT, which is investigating offenses linked to the Justice Hema Committee Report, to appoint a nodal officer to handle complaints from other individuals in similar circumstances, irrespective of whether they had provided statements to the Hema Committee.
On Thursday, the bench stated: "While the nodal officer has been designated following our earlier directive and adequate publicity about the officer's name and details has been disseminated so that individuals feeling threatened or intimidated during the investigation can approach the SIT with their complaints, it is beneficial to extend the nodal officer's jurisdiction to include grievances from those in the film industry who have not reached out to the Hema Committee. This will enable any such individual to present complaints regarding harassment or abuse to the nodal officer for transmission to the SIT for investigation. We find no reason to restrict the nodal officer's jurisdiction for this purpose. Therefore, we direct that upon receiving any such complaint from film industry personnel, the nodal officer must promptly forward it to the SIT for investigation while ensuring confidentiality..."
"This opportunity is specifically for this purpose. Should you have a harassment complaint, you may always approach the police station... the only benefit of this option is the guarantee of confidentiality, as opposed to reporting to a regular police officer, where your name would be registered as the complainant... why would someone who is already suffering delay beyond what the court allows... You already have a platform... certain protections can be guaranteed... it will proceed from the SIT to the Court without interference. If this does not instill confidence in the individuals, nothing will," it further added.
The court then scheduled the case for additional hearings after the Christmas holiday.
The Hema Committee report was released in August, and since then, all actors against whom FIRs were filed have obtained bail. This includes two-time CPI-M legislator Mukesh, Siddique, Edavela Babu, Jayasurya, Ranjith, Maniyanpillai Raju, Nivin Pauly, and several others.
