Hema Committee report: Kerala HC appoints amicus curiae to assist Govt in framing policies for women

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday appointed an amicus curiae to help the state government in drafting special legislation to address the issues faced by women, especially in their workplace, in the wake of the explosive revelations of the Justice Hema committee.

The special bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and C. S. Sudha, hearing the matters relating to the Justice Hema Committee report, decided to appoint advocate Mitha Sudhindran to assist the court.

After the appointment was announced, the court orally directed to ensure all views must be collected from all relevant stakeholders allowing the state to review them so as to come up with the draft of a special law that incorporates a feminine perspective.

"Give us different perspectives so we that we can put all of that to the state to make the work of the state also easier… let's have as many perspectives and using all of these inputs, the state can embark upon this draft legislation... It will probably get a sort of nod from the Court to test its legality. It is not going to be like many of the legislations that come normally, maybe it is a radical approach that the legislators are actually seeking prior approval from the judiciary... It is always better to be cautious in these matters…..we are not drafting the legislation... what we are doing here is perspectives from different stakeholders," it said.

"This court is certainly is not going to be legislating… what we are doing here is trying to get different perspectives, and predominantly the feminine perspective, because that is something that we find is lacking in our laws now. So let us have a feminine perspective also," it added.

Ever since August 19 when the Justice Hema Committee report was made public and highlighted the pitiable conditions of women in the film industry including sexual exploitation, there was a huge hue and cry as there is no clear employer-employee relationship in the film industry.

Following the report's publication, the High Court decided to form a separate bench to hear all the pleas arising from it. In the last hearing, the court was informed that 26 FIRs have been registered pursuant to its direction to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to take necessary action.

On Thursday, the court was informed that in five FIRs, the victims are unwilling to cooperate with the investigation, while in three FIRs, the victims have refuted their own statements and declined to continue with the investigation. The court was further informed that more time is required to submit statements in the remaining 18 FIRs and posted the case for its next hearing on November 21.