'Award winning story was mine, will file case'

The major issue this time has to do with scriptwriter Najeem Koya who has alleged that the story of Kaattum Mazhayum, which won the State Award for Harikumar, was his own. The film is yet to be released.
Najeem says he first narrated the story to Harikumar in 2013.
'My story was of a slightly controversial nature, and not many directors were ready to take it up.When I narrated it to Harikumar in 2013, he expressed his interest in directing it, and asked me to write the script asap. However, I was busy with a few other projects and asked for some time.'
After six months, Najeem got to know that Santhosh Echikkanam was writing a script for Harikumar. 'I immediately contacted Echikkanam and he told me that he was writing the same story, and that Harikumar had told him that it was his own story. I called up Harikumar and his answer was 'You didn't take it forward that day'.'
An appaled Najeem contacted Film Employees' Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) authorities next, who called up both parties and listened to their versions. 'Harikumar refused to answer their calls at first.
Finally, Echikkanam himself clarified that the script he was writing was the same as my story, and the FEFKA authorities asked Echikkanam to stall the writing until a decision was taken. Only then did Harikumar respond to FEFKA's summons.'
FEFKA official Sibi Malayil confirms this version. 'The truth is with Najeem Koya. We had found that the story is Najeem's and made Harikumar sign a document with an apology giving the credits to Najeem,' says Sibi. He also adds that Najeem has been encouraged by FEFKA to file a case, and that the said documents will be submitted when required.
Najeem is planning to file a police case for story theft soon and the formalities are on, he says. 'Harikumar is now claiming that he was forced to sign the document. Why didn't he stand by his statement while signing?'
However, industry observers say that the issue raises a pertinent question. When a film which has not been released is submitted for the awards to the committee, how would the jury ascertain whether it is an original work or not? No way as of now, proves the repeated instances. Harikumar remained unavailable for comments.