CHENNAI: Around 1.2 crore people watched the present Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-starrer 'Jana Nayagan' online even before it received certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the Madras High Court was informed on Thursday (July 2).
Taking note of the submission, the court refused to grant bail to 2 of the 21 accused of leaking the movie online.
According to a Daily Thanthi report, Justice C Kumarappan dismissed the bail petitions filed by S Rajini and Jayaprakash, the 4th and 11th accused in the case, respectively, after taking note of the seriousness of the allegations and the ongoing investigation.
The prosecution told the court that the prime accused, a freelance film editor and the brother of the fourth accused, had allegedly stolen movie clips stored on a hard drive from an editing suite. The prime accused and two of his brothers allegedly combined the disjointed clips into a complete version of the film before uploading it to Google Drive.
The leaked version subsequently found its way to piracy websites, including the most infamous of them all, Tamil Rockers, leading to nearly 1.2 crore people watching the uncertified film before access to the links was blocked.
The court was informed that the large-scale circulation of the pirated copy had caused significant financial damage to the producers.
The prosecution opposed the bail petitions, stating that two persons accused in the case are still absconding and their arrest is essential to trace the financial transactions linked to the alleged piracy network. It was submitted that Rajini was arrested in April, while Jayaprakash was taken into custody last month.
Expressing apprehension that their release could lead to tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses connected to the case, the prosecution argued that both accused should remain in judicial custody. The court was also informed that only a preliminary charge sheet had been filed before the trial court and that police are yet to complete the investigation before filing the final charge sheet.
The prosecution further informed the court that the film's producers, KVN Productions, had approached the Madras High Court through a civil suit and obtained an interim injunction restraining internet service providers across the country from permitting unauthorised exhibition of the film on their platforms.
Taking note of the prosecution's submissions and the stage of investigation, Justice Kumarappan dismissed the bail petitions filed by the two accused.