'False Complaint' : Karnataka High Court Stays Sexual Assault Case Filed By Man Against Malayalam Director Ranjith
While the complainant alleged that the crime happened at the Taj Hotel near Bangalore airport in 2012, it started functioning only in 2016.
The Karnataka High Court has stayed the investigation in a sexual harassment case filed by a man against Malayalam film director Ranjith, after noting that the allegations seemed prima facie false.
Though the complainant alleged that he was sexually assaulted at the Taj Hotel near Bangalore airport in 2012, the said hotel started functioning only in 2016, the Court noted.
"The complaint on the face of it, is false. I don't even say prima facie, as the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport starts its operation only in the year 2016, this is in public domain, it is four years after the incident. Therefore, the vivid narration at Taj hotel is absolutely false. This is thus a canard," Jusice M Nagaprasanna noted.
The Court also noted that the complaint was filed 12 years after the alleged incident.
"The complaint is registered in the year 2024 and the alleged incident is said to have happened in the year 2012. Therefore, it has taken 12 years for the complainant to register the complaint. Delay of 12 years is also left completely unexplained. Therefore, on all these factors it becomes a classic case of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus,” the Court said.
In this backdrop, the Court ordered a stay of further investigation in the FIR registered for offences under Section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The complainant, claiming to be an aspiring actor, alleged that he was called into the hotel room by Ranjith and was subjected to sexual harassment.
The matter is posted next on January 17.
The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate Prabhuling Navadgi and Advocate Joseph Anthony.