Kerala High Court closes filmmaker Ranjith’s anticipatory bail plea in a sexual harassment case

The Kerala High Court recently closed a petition filed by filmmaker K. Ranjith seeking anticipatory bail in a case where he was charged with outraging the modesty of a Bengali actor. The prosecutor stated that the offence charged against him was bailable at the time of the incident in 2009. Ranjith was booked under section 354 of the IPC, which was a bailable offence back then. He argued that since the incident happened 15 years ago and the law had changed to make it non-bailable in 2013, he should be granted bail. Ranjith claimed that the complainant had a grudge against him for not being cast in his film and was influenced by others to file the complaint.