Chennai: Madras high court on Friday dismissed the bail petitions filed by nine persons arrested on charges of leaking Vijay’s last film Jana Nayagan online ahead of its theatrical release.Their counsel argued that the arrested persons were in custody for 42 days and said some of them had already been detained under the Goondas Act. It was further contended that the accused had merely watched the film out of curiosity and had not circulated it on social media platforms.Opposing the pleas, senior counsel Vijayan Subramanian, appearing for KVN Productions, submitted that the film had been produced at a cost of Rs 400 crore and involved the work of more than 2,000 employees. He argued that the illegal online release had caused substantial financial loss to the makers.The production house further alleged that the accused had uploaded the full movie on Telegram and that the main accused, Uma Shankar, was still absconding. Granting bail at this stage could lead to tampering of witnesses and affect the ongoing investigation, the court was told.The prosecution also opposed the bail pleas, contending that the accused had not only viewed the film before its theatrical release but had also circulated it through social media platforms. Police informed the court that the absconding accused’s arrest could help recover crucial evidence in the case.After perusing the investigation records and hearing submissions from all sides, Justice R Sakthivel dismissed the bail petitions filed by all nine accused.
