Jana Nayagan Censor Row: Madras High Court Stays Order To Grant Certificate To Vijay-Starrer

Single-judge Justice PT Asha of the Madras High Court on Friday (January 9) morning directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue a U/A certificate to Vijay's Jana Nagayan forthwith. However, the CBFC, in response to the verdict, had filed a writ appeal on the same day over the certification of the film. The censor board suggested that the film should be given an A certificate. The appeal was heard by the Madras High Court Chief Justice's bench, which issued a stay order on Jana Nayagan's release. The next hearing is on January 21, 2026.

Madras High Court stay order on Jana Nayagan

The first Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan heard the urgent appeal by the CBFC and granted the interim stay on the film's release.

According to Live Law, the bench said, "Respondent Union of India was not given sufficient time..one main grievance of UoI was that they were not given time to reply. Another grievance is that letter dated January 6 was not challenged, but court (single judge) quashed it. Respondents argue that there was no urgency... All said and done there was no certificate granted to respondents".

During the hearing, the Chief Justice questioned the censor board why it was urgent to file the appeal on the same day.

For the unversed, within a few hours of the single judge's verdict, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) submitted the appeal, stating that the board did not get an opportunity to defend the issue by filing a counter. He said, "Petition filed on 5th (January). 6th it came up before the court. We were asked to produce the letter (intimating review of certification). We produced it on 7th. We produced the complaint from Bombay and produced it on 7th in an envelope. Matter was heard on 7th afternoon and orders passed today."

The Chief Justice also asked the makers, "What was the urgency that the respondent (Board) was asked to respond to the plea and the matter was decided within 2 days?"

"You're creating an urgency and putting pressure on court. False state of urgency is being created saying that 'we have to release the movie on such date'...6th January order is not under challenge and it has been challenged. How can you go ahead with the release of the movie without even a certificate on hand? You can't fix a date (for release) and put pressure on the system" the court said to Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for producers KVN Productions.

Senior Advocate Satish Parasaran, who also appeared for KVN Productions, read out the earlier order of the examining committee of the CBFC saying that A U/A certificate would be granted subject to modifications.

The Chief Justice responded, "We'll pass some order, but till that time we can't let this order be given effect to". The court also said that the CBFC should've been given a proper opportunity to object to the producer's writ petition.

Jana Nayagan, which is Vijay's final film before his full-time plunge into politics, was scheduled for theatrical release on January 9. New release date is awaited.