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The Karnataka High Court on Friday, July 4, quashed a case of unnatural sex filed against Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan. The case, filed by an aspiring male actor, was quashed citing factual inconsistencies and inordinate delay in filing the complaint.
Ranjith’s petition seeking to quash the first information report (FIR) was heard by Justice SR Krishna Kumar.
Ranjith was booked under Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66E (punishment for violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The case was based on a 2023 complaint alleging that the filmmaker sexually assaulted the complainant in 2012 at the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport.
Senior Advocate Prabhuling Navadgi, who represented Ranjith, alleged that it was a false case. He pointed out that the hotel in question only began operations in 2016, four years after the alleged incident.
This inconsistency had earlier led Justice M Nagaprasanna to stay the proceedings.
A copy of the detailed order is awaited.