Madras HC allows CBFC appeal challenging single-judge directive to grant U/A certificate to Vijay's 'Jana Nayagan'

A bench headed by the Chief Justice held that the single judge ought to have granted time to the CBFC to file its counter-affidavit before passing the order.

Accordingly, the matter has now been remanded to the single judge for a fresh hearing, with the observation that the film's producer is at liberty to amend the prayer in the writ petition.

This came a week after the Madras High Court reserved its order on the appeal. A division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan was hearing the matter.

The developments come in the wake of the Madras HC's single bench judgement, which directed the CBFC to issue a 'U/A 16+' certificate for the film, providing temporary relief to the producers.

The movie was scheduled for release on January 9, but the CBFC did not grant clearance, stating it had been referred to the Revising Committee. K Venkat Narayana, the producer, moved the Madras High Court earlier with an urgent plea seeking directions to the CBFC to grant certification.

However, the CBFC moved to a division bench of the High Court, which stayed the single judge's order on January 9.

Earlier, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea filed by the makers of the Tamil film seeking a stay on the Madras High Court order that halted the film's certification process.

'Jana Nayagan' was planned for a Pongal release on January 9 and is being described as Vijay's last film before he fully steps into politics. The actor has recently launched his own political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

The film ran into trouble when the CBFC decided to hold back its certification on the grounds that certain scenes in the movie could potentially hurt religious sentiments. (ANI)