The Kerala High Court has raised eyebrows regarding the impact of violent scenes in cinema and wondered if the State needed to control such material or if cinema simply reflected reality.
A Bench led by Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice CS Sudha expressed these apprehensions during the hearing of cases pertaining to the Hema Committee Report, which examines the exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry. The Kerala Women’s Commission brought the effect of violent content in films to the attention of the court.
Justice Nambiar recognized that violence on screen and other forms of visual media can have an undesirable impact on society, tending to instill aggression by glorifying violent acts. Nevertheless, he mentioned the collateral right of freedom of speech and expression and the extent to which regulation was possible. “To what extent that goes will depend on public and constitutional morality,” he said.
The court also discussed whether films merely reflect present-day societal violence or actually add to its glorification. “Is excessive violence or the glorification of violence desirable, or are films merely reflecting today’s society?” Justice Nambiar posed, emphasizing that such questions need to be kept in mind while making legislation regarding harassment in the film industry.
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The Bench instructed the Kerala Women’s Commission to study the level of State interference in film content regulation. “This is a subject for an interesting study. What is the extent of interference from the State? You have the censor board, but that is on a different yardstick. The Women’s Commission can study these areas,” the judge said.
The court also touched upon the recent order of the Supreme Court, which allowed police investigations on the basis of witness statements made prior to the Hema Committee. Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup told the court that the Supreme Court had declined to stop the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation into the case.
Justice Nambiar clarified that the SIT would not compel victims to provide statements and that those unwilling to participate in the investigation could inform authorities accordingly.
Also, the gender-based bullying issue outside the world of entertainment was brought up by advocate Sandhya Raju, prompting the court to propose that any legislation should not be confined to the world of cinema. The Bench told the court expert to go through all the documents before the preparation of draft bills, clarifying that its intention was to help the State in preparing a broad law and not impose one.
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