30 April,2026 06:59 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Vijay in Jana Nayagan (Pic/X)
The Madras High Court, on Thursday, April 30, dismissed an anticipatory bail petition filed by Uma Shankar, one of the accused in connection with the online leak of the Tamil movie Jana Nayagan, starring Vijay.
Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan dismissed the bail plea, noting the submissions of the State informing the court that there were materials against the accused and that a custodial interrogation was necessary. Additionally, the anticipatory bail plea was also opposed by KVN Productions, producers of the movie and the de facto complainant.
Uma Shankar submitted that he had not committed any offence as claimed in the complaint. He also submitted that he was a heart patient and had recently undergone heart surgery. He further argued that he had neither watched the movie nor shared it with anyone, while alleging that the police were repeatedly harassing him and his entire family.
Opposing the bail plea, KVN Productions argued that the movie, which was circulated online even before its release, included the watermark of the editor. The company also submitted that the petitioner was friends with persons who were working as freelance editors in the movie. It was claimed that he had copied the movie onto a hard disk, and compressed the file size before forwarding the movie to others, and ultimately posted it online.
The Additional Public Prosecutor informed the court that, based on the complaint filed by the production company, an enquiry was conducted. It was shared that after the shooting for the movie is over, it was sent to the editing studio for editing. The prosecution further informed the court that the prime accused in the case, Prasanth, was a freelance editor working on a different movie. The prosecutor informed the court that when the primary accused came to the editing studio, he saw the copy of movie clips in the system, following which he copied these clips into a hard disk, took it to his home, merged it and ultimately circulated them online.
After hearing the submissions from the concerned parties, the court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea, noting that a custodial interrogation was necessary in the case.
Earlier this month, on April 9, clips from the movie were circulated online, before the film was certified by the CBFC for release. Consequently, a complaint was filed by the production company, and more than ten people have been arrested till now. The production company had also secured an interim order from the Court restraining internet service providers and other Cable TV operators from illegally streaming the movie.
Around eleven persons have been arrested so far in connection with the case, and Uma Shankar was named by one of the prime accused. Uma Shankar approached the court apprehending arrest by the police for alleged offences punishable under Section 61(2), 306, 316(2), 318(4) of the BNS and Section 43 of the IT Act along with Sections 66,66B, 66C, 66D of the IT (Amendment) Act and Sections 51,63(a), 65 of the Copyright Act and Sections 65A, 65B of the Copyright (Amendment) Act read with Section 6AB of the Cinematography Act.
