The Kerala High Court on Monday quashed a sexual harassment case filed by a Bengali actress against Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan, ruling that the trial court was not legally permitted to take cognisance of the complaint due to a 15-year delay in filing it.
Justice C. Pratheep Kumar observed that the offences alleged against Ranjith&mdash;under Sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code&mdash;carry a maximum sentence of two years. 
As per Section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), cases punishable with imprisonment of up to three years must be filed within three years from the date of the alleged offence.
The Court, therefore, found that the magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the case, which was filed 15 years after the alleged incident.
&ldquo;Since the maximum punishment for the offences under Sections 354 and 509 IPC was two years, and the limitation under Section 468 CrPC was three years, the magistrate was not justified in taking cognisance after 15 years. Hence, the proceedings are quashed under Section 528 BNSS,&rdquo; the Court said.
The complaint was filed in 2024, soon after the Justice Hema Committee Report highlighted widespread sexual harassment and discrimination against women in the Malayalam film industry. 
The complainant alleged that Ranjith invited her to his apartment in 2009 under the pretext of discussing a film and then attempted to touch her inappropriately.
Following her complaint, police registered an FIR under Sections 354 and 509 IPC, and the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Ernakulam took cognisance of the case.
Ranjith moved the High Court seeking to quash the proceedings, calling the allegations false and motivated. 
His counsel argued that the complaint was time-barred, as it was filed 15 years after the alleged offence. 
The Court accepted this argument and quashed the criminal proceedings.
The quash petition was filed through advocates Santheep Ankarath and Sherry M.V.
Earlier, Ranjith&rsquo;s anticipatory bail plea in this case was closed after the prosecution clarified that since the alleged incident occurred in 2009&mdash;when Section 354 IPC was a bailable offence&mdash;the police could release him without court approval.
The filmmaker had also faced a separate case in Karnataka, where a male actor accused him of engaging in unnatural sex in 2012 at a hotel near Bengaluru Airport. 
Ranjith denied the charge, pointing out that the Taj Hotel mentioned in the complaint opened only in 2016, four years after the alleged incident. 
The Karnataka High Court took note of this discrepancy and quashed the case in July this year.

Kerala High Court building exterior daylight view

Court rules complaint against Ranjith time-barred under Section 468 of CrPC

Kerala HC Quashes 15-Year-Old Case Against Ranjith

Court rules complaint against Ranjith time-barred under Section 468 of CrPC

October 27, 2025 | 19:11 IST