The Karnataka High Court has quashed a sexual assault case against Malayalam film director Ranjith Balakrishnan, providing significant relief to the filmmaker. The case, initiated based on a complaint by a man, was annulled by Justice S. R. Krishna Kumar, who questioned the validity of the claims and the considerable delay in reporting the alleged incident.

The complainant, an aspiring actor, alleged that Ranjith Balakrishnan sexually assaulted him in a hotel room in Bengaluru in 2012 after inviting him there. The complaint was filed in Kerala and later transferred to Karnataka, invoking Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (unnatural sex) and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (violation of privacy).

However, the court found critical inconsistencies in the complainant's account. The defense, led by senior counsel Prabhuling Navadgi, highlighted that the alleged incident occurred at the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport, which only began operations in 2016, four years after the claimed assault. This factual inaccuracy led the court to question the veracity of the entire complaint. Justice Krishna Kumar stated that the detailed narration involving the Taj Hotel was "absolutely false".

Adding to the doubts, the court pointed out the 12-year delay in filing the complaint, which was registered in 2024 for an incident said to have taken place in 2012. The complainant offered no explanation for this delay, further undermining the credibility of the allegations. The court observed that this delay, combined with the false claim about the hotel, made it a "classic case of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" (false in one thing, false in everything).

Previously, Justice M. Nagaprasanna had stayed the criminal proceedings against Ranjith Balakrishnan, also noting the significant discrepancies in the complaint. The court had earlier observed the implausibility of the incident occurring at the Taj Hotel in 2012, as it did not exist then.

Ranjith Balakrishnan has maintained that the allegations were baseless and fabricated with malicious intent. The case emerged against the backdrop of increased scrutiny of the Malayalam film industry following the release of the Justice K. Hema Committee report on sexual misconduct within the industry.