The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by director Shankar seeking to quash the copyright proceedings in the Enthiran copyright violation case. The Kollywood director approached the Supreme Court after the Madras High Court refused to quash the case filed against him by a writer. In 2010, Aarur Tamilnadan, a writer, filed a case in the Madras High Court alleging copyright violation of his story Jugiba. The petitioner said that his story, titled Jugiba, was first published in a magazine Iniya Udayam in April 1996 and the same story was published again in a novel, Tik Tik Deepika, in 2007.
He said the movie Enthiran directed by Shankar and produced by Kalanithi Maran was a copy of his work and added that the director committed an offence punishable under Section 420 (Cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other sections of the Copyright Act.
The case came up for hearing before the Madras High Court in 2019 and senior counsel Wilson, appearing for director Shankar, argued that the story of Enthiran did not resemble that of Jugiba.
Counsel P Kumaresan appearing for the petitioner pointed out to 29 similarities between the two stories and further added that that Aarur Tamilnadan was recognised with Kalaimamani awards for his works and the state government had purchased the book Thik Thik Deepika.
After hearing both sides, the Madras High Court refused to quash the case. Justice B Pugalendhi, who was hearing the case, made an observation that Enthiran and Jugiba are similar. However, the judge said that proceedings under Section 420 (cheating) of IPC would not stand.
In this backdrop, the director approached the Supreme Court seeking to quash the proceedings against him for copyright violation. He argued that he wrote the story even before the story Jugiba was published.
The Supreme Court on Monday, however, ruled against director Shankar and refused to quash the proceedings against him. Enthiran, starring superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai was released on October 1, 2010.