Time limit expired; High Court quashes Bengali actress' sexual assault case against Malayalam actor-director Ranjith

KOCHI: The High Court has quashed the sexual assault case filed by a Bengali actress against director Ranjith. The High Court quashed the case registered with the Ernakulam North Police. Justice C Pradeep quashed the case, citing that the case was not viable as the time limit for the magistrate court to file a case in an incident that took place 15 years ago had expired.

The Bengali actress filed a complaint against Ranjith in 2024, following the revelations that were part of the Hema Committee report. The actress filed a complaint that Ranjith had called her for a film discussion in 2009 and tried to touch her with sexual intent. A case was registered against Ranjith under sections 354 and 509 of the IPC.

'The period for which a magistrate court can file a case for offences punishable by imprisonment for two to three years is three years. In this case, the woman filed a complaint against Ranjith after 15 years. Therefore, the case is not legally maintainable,' the High Court ruled. Cases under IPC 354 have been punishable by imprisonment for up to five years and have been made non-bailable since a 2013 amendment.

Many people came forward with revelations after the Hema Committee report was released. One of the first revelations was the one made by the Bengali actress against Ranjith. Ranjith resigned from the post of chairman of the Chalachitra Academy under pressure from the protests that followed.

Another case was registered against Ranjith on a complaint of molesting a man from Kozhikode in a hotel, but the Karnataka High Court quashed it in July.