Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan producer moves Supreme Court against lower court order

New Delhi: The producer of the Tamil film Jana Nayagan, starring actor Vijay, approached the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging a Madras High Court order that stayed a single-judge directive to grant CBFC clearance to the movie.

On January 9, the division bench stayed the single judge’s order directing the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to immediately issue a censor certificate, leaving the film’s release in limbo. Jana Nayagan, noted for its political undertones, was promoted as Vijay’s final film before fully entering politics with his recently launched party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). The movie was scheduled for a Pongal release on January 9 but faced last-minute hurdles after certification was delayed.

Justice PT Asha had earlier directed the CBFC to grant clearance, ruling that the chairperson could not refer the matter to the revising committee once a decision to certify had been taken. Hours later, Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan, on CBFC’s appeal, granted an interim stay on this order.

The CBFC’s January 6 letter, informing the producer of the referral to the revising committee, was not under challenge, but the single judge had set it aside. Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared via video conference for the board.

The division bench noted that the CBFC had insufficient time to respond and granted a stay, issuing notice to the producer. The matter is now posted for January 21.