Sexual assault case against Malayalam director Ranjith Balakrishnan quashed by Kerala HC

An actor claimed that filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan invited him to a hotel where he assaulted them. He was booked for unnatural acts and violation of privacy.

The Kerala High Court quashed a sexual assault case against Malayalam director Ranjith Balakrishnan on Friday, 4 July. According to a report by Bar and Bench, a copy of the ruling is awaited, but the filmmaker was granted relief by the court in the case.

Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan was booked for sexual assault and HC quashed the case on Friday.

HC quashes sexual assault case against Ranjith

A senior advocate represented Ranjith in court and reportedly presented evidence that led the court to rule in his favour. The judge had allowed Ranjith's petition to quash the case against him. The advocate had pointed out that the Taj Hotel, where the alleged incident took place, was opened only four years after the date of the alleged crime. Earlier, this same aspect had led another judge to put a stay on criminal proceedings against Ranjith. It was pointed out then that the FIR was filed 12 years after the incident supposedly occurred, and no justification was provided for the delay in filing.

In September last year, a male aspiring actor made allegations against Ranjith. He claimed that he was invited to the fourth floor of the Taj Hotel by the filmmaker, where he was allegedly assaulted. In August last year, the police filed a complaint against Ranjith in the case. In October, He was booked under Section 377 of the IPC (unnatural offences) and Section 66E of the IT Act, 2000 (violation of privacy). He moved the High Court to quash the FIR, which was granted on Friday.

The allegations against Ranjith Balakrishnan

According to the FIR, the alleged incident took place in December 2012 when the complainant met Ranjith during a film shoot in Kozhikode. He was visiting the set of Bavuttiyude Namathil, written and produced by Ranjith, to meet actor Mammootty. Following the meeting, the director obtained the complainant’s contact details and invited him to the hotel near Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. The complainant claimed that he was offered alcohol and assaulted.

This was the second sexual assault allegation made against him. The first was by a female Bengali actor.