A bench of the Kerala High Court has dismissed actor Ranjini’s appeal. The judge had challenged a single judge’s order upholding the State Information Commission’s order to publish the report of Justice K. Hema’s committee on the working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry with limited deletions. | Photo credit: H. VIBHU
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday (August 19, 2024) dismissed an appeal filed by actress Ranjini alias Sasha Selvaraj challenging a single judge’s order upholding the State Information Commission’s (SIC) order to publish the Justice K. Hema Committee’s report on working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry with limited deletions.
The bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaq and Justice S. Manu, asked the actor to move a writ petition before a single judge challenging the SIC’s action.
Judge VG Arun had upheld the SIC’s order and dismissed a plea filed by film producer Sajimon Parayil.
Ms Ranjini claimed that her right to privacy could be violated as the deletion of sensitive parts of the report was done by the Information Commissioner at his own discretion. She stressed that she was not against the publication of the report as such, but only against the order which leaves it to the Information Commissioner alone to decide on the privacy of persons who have testified before the Committee.
She also argued that those who have access to her statements would not know which parts would be redacted. She had a legitimate expectation that she had a legal right to privacy and that the report would provide her with confidential assurances that it would never infringe on her privacy. The State Information Commissioner should not have ordered the release of the report without hearing from the parties concerned, including her.
It further pointed out that in case of a conflict between the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and the right to privacy under Article 21, the latter should prevail over the former.
The committee, headed by former Kerala High Court judge K. Hema, was set up following the sexual assault of an actor in 2017. The committee submitted its report to the Kerala government on December 31, 2019. However, it was not made public as it contains sensitive information.
The SIC’s order was issued on applications filed under the RTI Act. The report was scheduled to be released last Saturday (August 17, 2024), but the release was postponed after the actor filed an appeal.
