Justice SR Krishna Kumar allowed Ranjith's petition, noting major inconsistencies in the complaint.
Published Jul 04, 2025 | 3:50 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 04, 2025 | 3:50 PM
Ranjith Balakrishnan.
On Friday, 4 July, the Karnataka High Court quashed a sexual offence case filed against filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan by an aspiring male actor.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar allowed Ranjith’s petition, noting major inconsistencies in the complaint.
As per Bar and Bench report, Senior Advocate Prabhuling Navadgi representing Balakrishnan asserted that it was a false case. He pointed out that the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru Airport, where the alleged incident supposedly occurred, opened only in 2016, four years after the alleged event, highlighting a glaring factual inaccuracy.
When South First first contacted Ranjith Balakrishnan, he said, “I’m very happy. My advocate just informed me. This case caused immense damage. Even when an allegation is false, the system still has to investigate. The Malayalam media had a field day with the accusation, now, no one’s talking about the new ruling.”
The case, filed over a decade after the alleged incident, was earlier stayed by another judge who had flagged the delay and questioned the credibility of the claims.
Ranjith was previously booked under IPC Section 377 (unnatural offences) and IT Act Section 66E (punishment for violation of privacy). His plea to quash the FIR was filed through adv Joseph Anthony.
A man from Kozhikode, Kerala accused Ranjith of sexually abusing him in 2012. In his complaint, filed in 2024, sent to the state police chief, the man alleged that Ranjith sexually abused him at a five-star hotel in Bengaluru in 2012.
Speaking to the media, the complainant had claimed that Ranjith saw him during the shooting of Mammootty starrer Bavuttiyude Namathil (2012) in Kozhikode and gave him his mobile number written on a tissue paper, promising him a movie role.
The complainant further said that he met the director at a five-star hotel in Bengaluru, where Ranjith asked him to get naked.
“He said my eyes were beautiful and asked me to do my eyebrows. I cannot say the things he did to me now. I will tell that to the police,” the complainant added.
The complainant also said that the director had sent his naked photos to an actress, who had allegedly liked his photos. The man claimed that Ranjith, however, had not given him any movie role. “He only gave me some money, with the whole ordeal, I underwent mental trauma.”
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman)
