The Kerala high court on Thursday ruled that production houses and other organisations associated with the Malayalam film industry should set up an internal complaints committee (ICCs), as prescribed in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The court delivered the important order, a first of its sort for the Malayalam film industry, on a public interest litigation filed by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an outfit formed in the wake of the alleged abduction and sexual assault of an actor in the state in 2017. The order was issued by a division bench headed by chief justice S Mani Kumar and justice Shaji P Chaly.
The court also observed that largest organisation in the Malayalam film industry, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), has volunteered to constitute the ICC while hearing the plea. It also directed that organisations with more than 10 employees should constitute the complaint committees at the earliest.
Two other organisations — the Film Employees Federation of India and the Malayalam Cine Technicians Association — submitted before the court that said they will form ICCs at the earliest.
In the PIL, WCC contended that in organisations like AMMA, there is no means to redress grievances of women artists, as mandated by the Supreme Court in the 1997 ‘Vishaka’ judgment and it sought the creation of an ICC in all bodies and production houses. Later, the Kerala women’s commission also impleaded in the petition. The petition also got the support of the state government.
“So far as the film industry is concerned, the production unit is a workplace and therefore, each production unit would have to constitute an internal complaints committee, which alone can deal with harassment against women in contemplation of provisions of the 2013 Act,” the bench said in the order.
The court said such a move will render enough confidence among women actors and other artists and make their life and personal liberty more meaningful.
“Respondent organisations are duty-bound to maintain an internal compliant committee if they are engaging 10 workers or more for managing the office establishment wherein, women workers are also employed for wages or not,” the court held.
The WCC lauded the verdict. “We are yet to see the copy of the verdict. Going by media reports, it is a landmark judgment. Definitely, it will help create more awareness in the industry and women will be treated on par and help end exploitation,” said Anjali Menon, director and one of the founding members of the WCC.
The demand for a grievance prevention forum gained momentum after the sexual assault on popular actor in 2017. Actor Dileep is an accused in the case and the trial is underway. After that case, many women actors had quit AMMA alleging that it stood with perpetrators, not the survivor.
