Karnataka High Court Quashes Man's Sexual Assault Complaint Against Malayalam Film Director Ranjith

The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed the criminal case filed by a man against Malayalam film director Ranjith Balkrishnan alleging sexual harassment.

A single judge bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar allowed the petition and quashed the case registered for offences under Section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The complainant, claiming to be an aspiring actor, alleged that he was called into the hotel room in Bangalore by Ranjith and was subjected to sexual harassment.

Earlier, the Court had stayed the investigation after noting that the Taj Hotel, where the crime was alleged to have happened, was not in existence in 2012, the date of the alleged offence, as it started operation only in 2016.

It had said “The complaint on the face of it, is false. I don't even say prima facie, as the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport starts its operation only in the year 2016, this is in public domain, it is four years after the incident. Therefore, the vivid narration at Taj hotel is absolutely false. This is thus a canard.”

It had added “The complaint is registered in the year 2024 and the alleged incident is said to have happened in the year 2012. Therefore, it has taken 12 years for the complainant to register the complaint. The delay of 12 years is also left completely unexplained. Therefore, on all these factors it becomes a classic case of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.”

Appearance: Senior Advocate Prabhuling K Navadgi for Advocate Joseph Anthony for Petitioner.

Case Title: Ranjith Balkrishnan AND State of Karnataka Case No: WP 32231/2024

Citation No: 2025 LiveLaw (Kar) 225