<p> Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed the proceedings against Ranjit Balakrishnan, prominent Malayalam movie director, in connection with a 12-year-old sexual harassment case. Justice SR Krishna Kumar said the petition is allowed and that a detailed order would be passed.</p><p>The crime against Ranjit was for offences under IPC section 377 and section 66 E of the Information Technology Act. </p><p>The complainant in the case Sajeer Cholayil, a resident of Kozhikode, Kerala stated that the offence had taken place in Taj Hotel, Bengaluru International Airport in 2012. The case was transferred to BIAL police station, Bengaluru. </p><p>The allegation was that Ranjith had asked the complainant, an aspiring actor, to meet him at the Taj Hotel and inappropriately touched him as well as had unnatural sex with him in the fourth floor of the hotel building.</p> .<p>Challenging the proceedings, the petitioner had contended that the complaint contains significant factual inaccuracies, particularly regarding the location of the Taj, which opened for operations only in the year 2016. It was also submitted that the complaint is with a delay of 12 years after the alleged incident.</p><p>In November 2024, the high court stayed the proceedings against Ranjit observing that the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport started its operation in the year 2016, while the complainant claimed the incident happened at Taj in 2012. </p><p>The court had further noted that the complaint was registered in the year 2024 while the alleged incident is said to have occurred in the year 2012. The court had also noted that a delay of 12 years is also left completely unexplained by the complainant.</p>
<p> Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed the proceedings against Ranjit Balakrishnan, prominent Malayalam movie director, in connection with a 12-year-old sexual harassment case. Justice SR Krishna Kumar said the petition is allowed and that a detailed order would be passed.</p><p>The crime against Ranjit was for offences under IPC section 377 and section 66 E of the Information Technology Act. </p><p>The complainant in the case Sajeer Cholayil, a resident of Kozhikode, Kerala stated that the offence had taken place in Taj Hotel, Bengaluru International Airport in 2012. The case was transferred to BIAL police station, Bengaluru. </p><p>The allegation was that Ranjith had asked the complainant, an aspiring actor, to meet him at the Taj Hotel and inappropriately touched him as well as had unnatural sex with him in the fourth floor of the hotel building.</p> .<p>Challenging the proceedings, the petitioner had contended that the complaint contains significant factual inaccuracies, particularly regarding the location of the Taj, which opened for operations only in the year 2016. It was also submitted that the complaint is with a delay of 12 years after the alleged incident.</p><p>In November 2024, the high court stayed the proceedings against Ranjit observing that the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport started its operation in the year 2016, while the complainant claimed the incident happened at Taj in 2012. </p><p>The court had further noted that the complaint was registered in the year 2024 while the alleged incident is said to have occurred in the year 2012. The court had also noted that a delay of 12 years is also left completely unexplained by the complainant.</p>