A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) to inform the court whether an internal complaint committee formed had been in accordance with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The Bench headed by Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy directed AMMA to file an affidavit. The court passed the directives on a writ petition filed by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) seeking a directive to AMMA, Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, Kerala Film Producers’ Association, FEFKA, MACTA, and the Kerala Film Distributors Association to constitute complaints committees under these associations.

When the petition was taken up for hearing, counsel for AMMA submitted that a complaint committee had already been constituted. Counsel for the WCC then pointed out that the committee formed had not been in terms of Section 4 of the Act. In fact, no independent external member had been included on the committee, counsel argued. Meanwhile, the WCC, in an affidavit, sought a directive to AMMA to immediately constitute a committee to deal with sexual harassment complaints in view of a stage show scheduled for December 7, 2018 at Abu Dhabi.