A Division Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday that had directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to immediately grant censor clearance to Jana Nayagan, starring actor-turned-politician Vijay.
CHENNAI: Hours after a single-judge of the Madras High Court on Friday directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to forthwith grant certification to actor-politician Vijay’s film Jana Nayagan, a two-judge bench stayed that order, stalling the release of the film that was expected to hit the screens on Friday for Pongal. The next hearing will be on January 20.
The first division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan granted the interim stay while hearing an urgent appeal filed by the CBFC against the single judge’s order.
The division bench observed that the CBFC, the respondent in the writ petition, ought to have been granted reasonable time to file its counter-affidavit. It held that the writ court should not have displayed urgency in deciding the matter when substantive questions of law had been raised, particularly on the powers of the CBFC chairperson to refer a film to the revising committee after the examining committee had recommended certification.
Issuing notice to the KVN Productions LLP, the two-judge bench directed the production house to file its response and posted the matter for hearing on January 20.
Appearing for CBFC, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General A R L Sundaresan submitted that the single judge had not afforded the board adequate time even to file a counter-affidavit.
Mehta contended that the single judge had moulded reliefs that were not sought in the writ petition by ordering the immediate grant of certification.
He also pointed out that the chairperson’s order dated January 6, 2026, referring the movie to the revising committee had not even been challenged by the producers.
Court subjected to pressure through filing of urgent petitions, says CJ bench
Senior counsels Mukul Rohatgi and Satish Parasaran, representing K Venkat Narayana of KVN Productions LLP, argued that the CBFC chairperson had no authority to refer the film to the revising committee once the examining committee had decided to grant a UA certificate and had communicated the same to the producers on December 24, 2025.
They submitted that the reference made on January 6 followed the filing of the writ petition and was triggered by a complaint from one of the members of the examining committee.
The counsels said the film’s release date was announced only after the producers received communication from the CBFC indicating that UA certification would be issued.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the court appeared to have been subjected to pressure through the filing of urgent petitions and insistence on early hearings. The writ petitioner, he said, ought to have waited for the CBFC to place its counter before the court. “Sanctity of the procedure is important,” the CJ observed.
Single judge’s order
Earlier in the day, Justice P T Asha had allowed the petition filed by KVN Productions, directing the CBFC to issue certification forthwith under Rule 27(1) of the Cinematograph Rules. Holding that the chairperson’s decision to refer the film to the revising committee was taken “without jurisdiction”, the judge ruled that the HC, while exercising its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution, was well within its authority to mould the relief by setting aside the chairperson’s decision uploaded on the e-Cinepramaan portal on January 6, 2026.
Referring to submissions that the reference was based on a complaint by a member of the examining committee, Justice Asha cautioned that such a volte-face by a member, after having viewed and assessed the film, could lead to a “dangerous trend” of committee members reneging on their recommendations. This, she said, would erode the sanctity attached to the decisions of the examining committee.
The judge also observed that the grievance raised by the complainant appeared to be an “afterthought” and “motivated”.
