In a major setback for director H Vinoth’s ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan, a division bench of the Madras High Court, comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, has issued a temporary stay against the order passed by a single bench earlier on Friday (January 9) morning, directing the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to grant a U/A certificate to the movie immediately. The court has now scheduled the matter for further hearing on January 21, following the Pongal holidays, Live Law reported.
After facing a setback before Justice PT Asha on Friday morning, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan, representing the censor board, made an immediate mention before the Chief Justice’s bench for an urgent hearing of the writ appeal against the order passed by the single bench. When the matter came up in the afternoon, the ASG pointed out that the board was not given an opportunity to defend the issue by filing a counter. He further apprised the court about the case’s timeline, noting that the movie was submitted for certification only on December 18, 2025.
When the court asked why the urgency of getting the CBFC to respond to the plea immediately, and the matter was decided within two days, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the film’s producers, KVN Productions, stated that the movie was scheduled for release on January 9. Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava remarked that the movie’s makers should have waited for the CBFC’s certificate before announcing the release date. He noted, “You are creating an urgency and putting pressure on the court. How can you go ahead with the release of the movie without even a certificate in hand? You can’t fix a date (for release) and put pressure on the system.”
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Pointing out that the movie’s team could have waited for 15 days or so, the CJ maintained that there wasn’t much urgency in the case. While dictating the order, the court noted that the Union government “was not given sufficient time” to reply to the plea. After making its observations, the division bench temporarily stayed the single judge’s order directing the CBFC to grant a U/A certificate to Jana Nayagan. The next hearing will take place on January 21. It may be mentioned here that Jana Nayagan is supposed to be Vijay’s last film before his full-fledged political entry.
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