Kerala HC quashes case against filmmaker Renjith

Kochi: High court has quashed the case against filmmaker Renjith Balakrishnan, which alleged that he had outraged the modesty of a Bengali actor in 2009.The bench of Justice G Gireesh issued the order on Monday in a petition filed by Renjith seeking to quash the case and the further proceedings pending before the additional chief judicial magistrate court, Ernakulam, against him. The case arose from allegations raised by the actor against Renjith in Aug 2024, following the release of a substantial portion of the Justice K Hema Committee report on the working conditions of women in the film industry.The actor alleged that in 2009, Renjith had invited her to act in a movie and that during a discussion about the film at a flat in Kochi, he had misbehaved with her. Based on her complaint, the Ernakulam North police registered a case under Sections 354 (assault or use of criminal force with intent to outrage a woman's modesty) and 509 (words, gestures, or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC against Renjith. The ACJM court later took cognisance of the case, which he challenged before the HC, arguing that the court's decision to take cognisance after 15 years was contrary to the interests of justice.During the hearing, HC had earlier sought a report from the magistrate court on whether any order had been issued condoning the delay in taking cognisance of the offence after the expiry of the limitation period. Considering the submissions, HC observed that since the maximum punishment prescribed for the offences under Sections 354 and 509 IPC, as applicable on the date of the alleged incident, was only two years, the period of limitation under Section 468 CrPC was three years from the date of commission of the offence. Hence, the magistrate was not justified in taking cognisance of the offence after a lapse of more than 15 years. Accordingly, the bench quashed the case.