The South Indian Film Editor's Association (SIFEA) said on Friday that Pradeep E. Ragav, the editor of Jana Nayagan—actor-politician Vijay's last film—was temporarily suspended in connection with an online leak case.
This comes despite the editors' body stating that Ragav was not "directly responsible" for leaking certain scenes from the film online.
However, in a press release, SIFEA explained that Ragav had still violated its rules by hiring "non-members as assistants on all the films he works on, including Jana Nayagan".
"This act is against the rules of the association," the editors' body said, adding that despite not being "directly responsible" for the leak, and that Ragav had admitted the leak had taken place due to his negligence.
"If this situation continues, there is a risk that the film industry will shut down. The Southern India Film Editor's Association has a duty to prevent such undesirable incidents from happening in the future,” it added in the press release.
Notably, while such leaks have taken place a number of times, this is one of the first times that the SIFEA has taken direct punitive actions against the film's crew members.
'Jana Nayagan' leak row
The piracy case is one of the latest hurdles faced by H. Vinoth's Jana Nayagan, which was earlier embroiled in a dispute with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) over delays in obtaining a censor certificate.
The leak of certain scenes from the film triggered a criminal investigation after KVN Productions, one of the film's producers, filed an official complaint earlier this month.
Chennai's cyber police soon arrested nine individuals, including a freelance editor, the alleged main accused in the case over accessing and distributing the footage online.
The freelance editor was arrested on charges of illegally exploiting the footage, which led to an emergency SIFEA meeting on April 17, at which time it came to a consensus on Ragav's suspension.