Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 30.04.2026 CORAM THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 D.Uma Shankar ..Petitioner Vs. State rep by The Inspector of Police, CCW Ashok Nagar Police Station, Chennai (crime No.47 of 2026) ..Respondent PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 482 of BNSS, 2023 praying to enlarge the petitioner on bail in the event of the arrest concern in crime No.47 of 2026 on the file of the Inspector of Police, CCW, Ashok Nagar, Chennai. For Petitioner : Mr.R.C.Paul Kanagaraj For Respondent : Mr.K.M.D.Muhizhan, Additional Public Prosecutor For Intervenor : Mr.Vijayan Subramanian ORDER The petitioner, who apprehends arrest at the hands of the respondent police for the offences punishable under Sections 61(2), 306, 1/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 316(2), 318(4) of BNS and Section 43 of IT Act and Sections 66, 66B, 66C, 66D of IT (Amendment) Act and r/w 51, 63(a), 65 of Copyright Act and under Sections 65A, 65B Copyright (Amendment) Act, r/w 6AB Cinematography Act, 2023, in Crime No.47 of 2026, seeks anticipatory bail. 2. The case of the prosecution is that complaint was given on the allegation of illegal leakage, unlawful downloading, transmission and circulation of confidential cinematograph film footage relating to the unreleased feature film ‘Jana Nayagan’. Further, it was requested for immediate blocking, preservation of digital evidence and criminal action on the persons who have done the crime. The plaintiff is the Production Manager of KVM Productions LLP who is the producer and copyright owner of the cinematograph film titled Jana Nayagan and they were engaged in the business of production and distribution of cinematograph films and have invested enormous financial resources, creative resources and contractual commitments in the production of the said film, which is the most anticipated and high-value motion pictures scheduled for release in the year 2026 and it features leading artists including Vijay, Prakash 2/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 Raj and other prominent artists from the South Indian film industry. The music score has been composed by Anirudh Ravichander and the film is directed by H.Vinoth. The producer has spent more than several hundred crores of rupees for production of the said film. On the complaint, the first respondent registered FIR in crime No.47 of 2026 for the offence punishable under Sections 61(2), 306, 316(2), 318(4) of BNS and Section 43 of IT Act and Sections 66, 66B, 66C, 66D of IT (Amendment) Act and r/w 51, 63(a), 65 of Copyright Act and under Sections 65A, 65B Copyright (Amendment) Act, r/w 6AB Cinematography Act, 2023 3. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner has nothing to do with the alleged offences as alleged by the defacto complainant and he does not know anyone in the film industry and he has no connection whatsoever with the alleged offence. The petitioner has neither watched the said movie nor shared it with any person. He further submits that the petitioner is the employee of Pothys which is clothing a firm. The petitioner is a heart patient and he is ready to cooperate with the investigation. Hence, his custodial interrogation does not require in this case and as such, the learned counsel prayed for 3/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 anticipatory bail to the petitioner. 4. Heard the learned counsel appearing on either side and perused all the materials placed before this Court. 5. On perusal of records and also on the submissions of the counsel appearing on either side, it is revealed that the unreleased film Jana Nayagan have been unlawfully accessed, downloaded, copied and forwarded by the accused. Therefore in order to prevent the digital leakage, FIR was registered and there are 21 accused persons who involved in access, download, copy and they forwarded to all the platforms on social media. The accused had illegally obtained confidential footage of the said film and transmitted and circulated to several third parties thereby creating a serious and immediate threat of mass digital leakage. It resulted in widespread viral circulation beyond the control and as such, the producer is suffering irreparable commercial destruction, loss of market value, project of contractual commitments, piracy related exploitation and large scale financial injury affecting several hundred crores invested in the project. The film leaked scenes are 4/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 further cirulcated or uploaded through digital platforms including Facebook, Instagram. X, YouTube, Telegram, WhatsApp groups, websites, torrent services or anonymous channels, the damage caused to the producer. It also caused damage to the theatrical value, satellite value, OTT rights, overseas distribution rights and overall market value of the film and directly affecting the contractual obligations and causing severe huge financial loss to the producer. 6. The first accused is working as freelance editor and is presently working as an editor in Mandatti Cini film making process. Therefore he has easy access to E.Studios at Virugambakkam. In E.Studios, it is having separate editing room having finger print access system. The first accused has been permitted to caste his finger print in the room. The said permission was given by the main editor who is doing editing work in various films and keeping their unreleased film videos in their Bero which is in his editing room. On 24.02.2026, the first accused accessed the E.Studios room and had seen the film Jana Nayagan’s edited film copies of 9 reels kept in input file in the editing system. He copied the reels of the said film and are watermarked and not combined stage. 5/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 Thereafter the first accused had taken full edited and combined and watermark film cassette which is prepared for Sensor Certification to release. The first accused who is a close friend of the third accused and also he is a close friend of his co-brothers who are arrayed as A2 and A4. Though the first accused was not working in the film Jana Nayagan, he had stolen the hard disk of the said film and shared the video to his friends and also the petitioner herein via Easy Share App. Only from the petitioner, who is a close friend of the first accused, second accused and fourth accused, unauthorised release of Jana Nayagan film video was received and had been sent to several persons. Therefore, the petitioner is the main accused and master mind behind the entire crime. That apart, his cell phones were scrutinised and found that he has close contact with the first accused, second and fourth accused. Therefore, the petitioner only had shared the unauthorised unreleased movie of Jana Nayagan to several persons. He was closely associated with one of the accused i.e. Selvam who is presently working with the petitioner as a Pothys Truck driver. Therefore, A1 to A4 had planned to earn money by using unauthorised video on uploading in various websites like Tamil Movies, Tamil Rockers.Net, and Tamil Rockers websites. 6/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 7. Further, in the production of Jana Nayagan movie, there were so many artists, musicians, dancers, fighters and other technicians involved and the producer had spent huge amount. The shoot was done for 145 days and they were paid huge amount. Therefore, the producer sustained huge loss because of the leaking of the video of the film Jana Nayagan in the social media. Therefore, the custodial interrogation of the petitioner is very much required in this case. As such, this Court is not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner. 8. Accordingly, this criminal original petition is dismissed. 30.04.2026 (2/2) lok To 1.The Inspector of Police, CCW Ashok Nagar Police Station, Chennai 2.The Public Prosecutor, High Court of Madras 7/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.OP.No.10019 of 2026 G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN, J. lok Crl.O.P.No.10019 of 2026 30.04.2026 (2/2) 8/8 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis