Delhi High Court Rejects PIL Demanding Probe On Sexual Harassment In Film Industry
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday, December 12, refused to order inquiry into the alleged sexual harassment faced by women artists in the Indian film industry. Rejecting a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the Court said that it cannot order a “roving and fishing” inquiry in the absence of a specific complaint.
Based on the Justice Hema Committee report which dealt with the instances of sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry, a petition was filed by advocate Ajeesh Kalathi Gopi urging direction from the National Commission for Women (NCW) to probe into the alleged violation of fundamental and human rights in the “Indian film industry” as well.
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A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said: “We will examine when there is a complaint. Your petition is structured on the report of Justice Hema Committee which is being looked into by another court,” and added that “we will not direct any roving and fishing inquiry”, PTI reports.
Rejecting the petition, the Court said that the complaint should come from a survivor and denoted that the “entire petition was based on surmises without any empirical data”.
“The writ petition does not set out any specific complaint of any particular person of sexual harassment, for which no remedy is available. The entire plea is based on surmises without any empirical data. In the given circumstances, we don’t consider it apposite to accede to the prayers in the petition,” the Court ordered.
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Gopi’s petition has also requested the court to recommend legislative amendments to The Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 so as to look into gender-based discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment, and to secure adequate legal protection for women in the Indian film industry.
