The Kerala High Court on April 12 (Friday) directed the Ernakulam District and Sessions Judge to give the survivor forthwith certified copies of the statements of those examined during the inquiry into the allegation of unauthorised access made to the memory card containing videos of the alleged sexual assault and copying and transmission of its contents while it was under the custody of the courts.
Justice K. Babu passed the directive while allowing a petition filed by the survivor against the refusal by the district judge to provide the certificate copies to her. The sessions judge rejected her request on the grounds that she had already addressed the High Court seeking action based on the findings of the inquiry.
The court noted that it never intended that the report of the fact-finding inquiry should be kept confidential. The petitioner has the right to know the statements given by various persons in the course of inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the statements.
