The Kerala High Court has terminated criminal proceedings against Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan in a sexual harassment case filed by a Bengali actor, concluding that the matter could not have been taken forward in law because of the delay in instituting the complaint.
Justice C Pratheep Kumar observed that the offences alleged, Section 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty) and Section 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the IPC, attract a maximum of two years imprisonment. Under Section 468 of the CrPC, courts are barred from taking cognisance of such offences beyond three years from the date of occurrence. The complaint in question was filed in 2024 regarding an incident claimed to have taken place in 2009.
The Court held that the Magistrate was not entitled to take cognisance after a gap of 15 years and therefore quashed the case by exercising its powers under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
The woman had alleged that the Ravanaprabhu director invited her to his apartment on the pretext of discussing a role and then attempted to touch her inappropriately. FIR was registered on that basis, and proceedings were initiated in Ernakulam. Ranjith denied the allegation and approached the High Court, arguing that the case was legally unsustainable due to the limitation. The Bench accepted this position. The quash plea was moved by advocates Santheep Ankarath and Sherry MV.
Earlier, the Court had closed his anticipatory bail application after the prosecution stated that Section 354 was a bailable offence at the time of the alleged incident.
Ranjith had also been named in a separate case in Karnataka filed by a male actor. That matter was stayed and later quashed after the Karnataka High Court noted inconsistencies in the complaint, including the claim of an incident at a hotel that did not exist at the relevant time.
Meanwhile, Ranjith is presently working on a short film titled Aaro, reportedly backed by Mammootty and featuring filmmaker Shyamaprasad and Manju Warrier.
