Man accused of watching leaked ‘Jana Nayagan’ gets anticipatory bail

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has granted anticipatory bail to R Pradeep Kumar, who was accused of watching an illegally leaked copy of actor-politician Vijay’s ‘Jana Nayagan’ online prior to its theatrical release.

Justice C Kumarappan observed that the sole allegation against the petitioner was that he had viewed the pirated version of the movie, with no overt act attributed to him.

The court noted that the final report had already been filed in the case and co-accused persons had been granted bail. It further noted that the alleged incident occurred on April 11, 2026, and the petitioner, who was initially not treated as an accused, had assisted in the probe.

Holding that there was no risk of him absconding or tampering with evidence, the court ruled that custodial interrogation was not required.

According to the prosecution, an unedited version was leaked online in April after a freelance editor engaged by the film’s post-production team allegedly copied and circulated it.

While the movie was released in theatres on July 23, the High Court had earlier dismissed the bail petitions of key accused involved in the leak.

Pradeep Kumar submitted that he was implicated solely for watching the film without any material evidence. He added that he was named as an accused at a later stage and highlighted that the investigation had already concluded with the filing of the charge sheet.

Granting pre-arrest bail, the court directed him to surrender before the jurisdictional magistrate within 15 days, failing which the order would stand cancelled. He was also directed to report to the police daily for 15 days and as and when required thereafter.