Published on : 27 Oct 2025, 10:50 am 3 min read

The Kerala High Court on Monday quashed a sexual harassment case filed on a complaint by a Bengali actress against Malayalam film director Ranjith Balakrishnan, after noting that the trial court was legally barred from taking cognisance of the case due to a delay in filing the complaint [ Ranjith Balakrishnan v State of Kerala ].

Justice C Pratheep Kumar noted that the alleged offences against Ranjith were under Sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which carried a maximum punishment of two years.

He further pointed out that under Section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), cognizance of such offences (

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