Kerala High Court quashes case by woman actor against film director Ranjith

The Kerala High Court has quashed a case filed by a woman actor against film director Ranjith in which she alleged that he had tried to outrage her modesty.

The Bengali actor had, in the wake of the K. Hema Committee report on the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, alleged that he had held her hand in an inappropriate manner and attempted to touch her with sexual intent, when she visited his apartment here in 2009 to discuss a movie.

Chargesheet in 2024

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed the case against Mr. Ranjith had filed a chargesheet in this connection in November 2024.

On Monday, a Bench of Justice C. Pratheep Kumar quashed the proceedings in this regard that were pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Ernakulam. Observing that the magistrate court should not have taken cognisance after 15 years, the High Court said that the maximum punishment for the offence was two years, while the period of limitation (to file the case) was three years from the date of occurrence of the alleged offence.

The FIR against the director was registered in August 2024, alleging that he tried to outrage the actor’s modesty in 2009.