The Madras high court this morning (January 9) ordered the Central Board of Film Certification to promptly grant final clearance to Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan (Tamil). It held that the CBFC chairman’s decision to have the film viewed by a new CBFC panel was flawed.
Justice P.T. Asha pronounced the verdict today after reserving the matter for judgement on January 7.
The court has ordered the grant of the certificate, as earlier recommended by the examining committee of the CBFC, forthwith in accordance with the applicable rules. The producers, KVN Productions, had alleged a delay on the part of the CBFC in granting the final certificate.
Jana Nayagan and its dubbed versions in Hindi (Jan Neta) and Telugu (Jana Nayakudu) were scheduled for release today. The examining committee had offered the film a ‘UA 16’ certificate subject to alterations. The changes were made by the producers and had already been submitted by them to the CBFC. However, an examining committee member later complained that the portrayal of defence forces in some scenes was not proper and that certain scenes could allegedly hurt religious sentiments.
The court held that it was not appropriate for a member of the examining committee to send in such a complaint, more so because his concerns were already recorded and corresponding deletions, made to address the same. The judge said, the complainant’s claim that he was not given a proper opportunity to discuss his concerns was “an afterthought” and she termed the complainant’s conduct motivated. She also remarked that “the decision of the chairperson (to refer the matter to revising committee) which has been uploaded only on 6-1-2026 is without jurisdiction”.