Karnataka High Court Quashes Sexual Assault Case Against Filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the FIR against Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan, which was lodged under IPC Section 377 and IT Act Section 66E based on allegations by an aspiring actor of a 2012 sexual assault in a hotel near Bengaluru airport.

Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar noted a critical factual error: the alleged hotel did not open until 2016, making the complaint inherently false.

The Court also flagged a 12-year delay in filing the FIR with no reasonable explanation, terming it a “false in one, false in all” case.

The investigation was stayed last year, and the petition is now fully disposed of.