Somen Mishra, Mumbai: Film editor Ranjit Bahadur, one of 11 jury members who picked our Oscar entry this year, was also the man who edited the behind-the-scenes capsule of Eklavya which appears on the film's DVD.

With Eklavya already in the eye of a storm over allegations that its selection may have been dubious, this development certainly adds fuel to the fire.

"Nobody must have thought about it. I didn't think, in any case it’s not my job. It is Film Federation of India’s (FFI) role to scrutinise.

It must have not occurred to them that there is also a supplementary production which is making of Eklavya. I suppose we have to draw FFI's attention to this to scrutinise it,” said jury chairman Vinod Pandey.

Director Bhavna Talwar, whose film Dharm was a close contender for the honour, had previously alleged that Eklavya's selection was dubious.

This new development has given her fodder to drive home her point.

"I've just heard this and I'm stunned at this news. This is what I've been crying hoarse about. This is blatant abuse of democracy. I rest my case," said Talwar.

Responding to the insinuation that Bahadur's presence in the jury meant a guaranteed vote for Eklavya, the film's director Vidhu Vinod Chopra says he had no idea of the jury composition until much after the selection was made.

"Nobody tells you who is on the jury. Did I know who sent Lage Raho Munnabhai? I come to know about the jury through the media and the chairman of the jury who is talking to TV.

Now let me tell you who is closest friend I have on jury. Nadeem Khan is my childhood friend. I have spent three years with him at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

He shot my first film Murder at Monkey Hill and also parts of 1942-A love Story. But he is a good guy because he didn’t vote for me.

Ranjit is a bad guy because I believe he has worked for a company where we outsourced our work, what most of us do because we are so busy with the actual making of the film that we give our promos, making and other stuff to other people.

Now they are saying this about Ranjit because he was part of that company,” said Chopra. How this error can be corrected is the question on everyone's mind.

What is clear however, is that an error has been committed: an error of oversight on the part of FFI that selected this jury.

The bigger issue now, is the need of a fool-proof method of selecting the best jury, a qualified jury.