Karnataka HC stays probe into sexual harassment case against Malayalam film director Ranjith
Bengaluru, Dec 11: The Karnataka High Court has stayed further investigation in a sexual harassment case filed against renowned Malayalam film director Ranjith, after observing that the allegations appeared to be fabricated.
The complainant claimed he was sexually assaulted by Ranjith at the Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport in 2012. However, the High Court noted that the hotel began operations only in 2016, rendering the allegations factually untenable.
"The complaint, on its face, is false. The Taj Hotel near Bengaluru International Airport began operations in 2016, which is four years after the alleged incident. This information is in the public domain. Therefore, the vivid description provided by the complainant is demonstrably false and amounts to a deliberate falsehood," Justice M Nagaprasanna stated.
Additionally, the court highlighted the unexplained delay in filing the complaint, which was registered in 2024, a full 12 years after the purported incident. "The delay of 12 years remains entirely unexplained. This makes it a textbook case of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in everything)," the judge remarked.
The First Information Report (FIR) was filed under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (unnatural offences) and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The complainant, who identified himself as an aspiring actor, alleged that Ranjith had invited him to a hotel room and subjected him to sexual harassment.
Representing Ranjith, senior advocate Prabhuling Navadgi and advocate Joseph Anthony argued for the stay of further investigation.
The case is scheduled to be revisited on January 17.
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Delhi HC asks Jaideep Sengar to surrender in Unnao custodial death case
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Jaideep Sengar, brother of Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Sengar, to surrender before jail authorities in connection with his conviction in the custodial death case of the survivor's father.
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja was hearing a plea by the convict for further extension of interim bail upon suspension of the 10-year sentence.
It observed that the interim bail granted to Jaideep Sengar in July 2024 was last extended in April 2025 and since then, in spite of five dates, no order of any further extension or suspension of his sentence has been passed by the court.
As the senior counsel for Jaideep Sengar urged the bench to extend the period of his release on account of his health, the bench said, "You surrender and then we will see."
"Although there is no extension of interim suspension of sentence granted, we find he has still not surrendered. Before we proceed to consider his application for further extension of suspension of sentence, we require the appellant to first surrender," the bench ordered.
The senior counsel for Jaideep Sengar assured the court that he would surrender by Saturday.
The court listed the matter for hearing next week.
Jaideep Sengar, 50, sought the bail extension on the grounds that he is suffering from oral cancer.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) counsel had earlier said it was not a fit case for extension of interim bail, and the prescription given by Jaideep Sengar in support of his plea was fabricated.
In his application, Jaideep Sengar said he was suffering from stage IV oral cancer, a life-threatening condition, and had developed clinical signs of recurrence.
The condition, the plea said, required continuous and specialised medical care.
The plea also informed that Jaideep Sengar has spent about four years in custody.
The high court had granted interim bail to Jaideep Sengar on July 3, 2024, for two months on medical grounds.
Kuldeep Sengar was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life on December 20, 2019, for raping the minor in 2017.
On March 13, 2020, Kuldeep Sengar, along with Jaideep Sengar, was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment by the trial court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh, in the custodial death case of the rape survivor's father.
The survivor's father was arrested, allegedly at the behest of the accused, under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018, owing to police brutality.
The trial court said no leniency could be shown for killing a family's sole breadwinner.
