Film director Shankar, on Monday denied reports that claimed that a non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued against him in the Enthiran plagiarism case. His statement came after several media reports said that an arrest warrant has been issued by the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Egmore against him.
In his statement, Shankar said that he was shocked to see ‘false news’ about a non-bailable warrant issued against him. “My advocate Mr Sai Kumaran has approached the Hon’ble court today and brought this to the Court’s attention. The Learned Judge was pleased to immediately confirm that no warrant has been issued against me. The reference to any warrant has apparently occurred due to a glitch in the online court reporting, which is presently being corrected,” his statement said. He added that such news without verification has caused needless anguish to his family and well-wishers.
Earlier reports had stated that the court had issued the warrant against Shankar as he failed to appear for hearings for around 10 years in the case. The petition was filed by a short story writer Arur Tamilnandan in 2010, who alleged that Shankar used his story for Enthiran, a blockbuster film that had Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai in lead roles. He had alleged copyright violation of his story, which was first published as Jugiba in a magazine named ‘Iniya Udayam’ in April 1996. Adding that his story was republished in 2007 in a novel Tik Tik Deepika, the petitioner alleged that Enthiran was a copy of his work and was punishable under the IPC and the Copyright Act. The writer had also demanded Rs 1 crore from Shankar and Kalanidhi Maran, who is the producer of Enthiran for patent infringement.
When the case was heard in Madras High Court in 2019, Shankar’s counsel denied the allegations. However, the petitioner’s counsel pointed out 29 similarities between the two stories, and added that Arur Tamilnandan has a Kalaimamani award for his work. The Madras High Court, convinced by the submissions, refused to quash the case. In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled against Shankar even as he pleaded that he had written the story even before Jugiba was published.