The Supreme Court will hear the plea filed by the producers of Jana Nayagan on January 19. This marks Thalapathy Vijay’s last film before he ventures into acting full-time.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the plea filed by the producers of Vijay’s film on January 19. The petition challenges the interim order passed by the Madras High Court related to the film’s release.
The high court order had stayed a single-judge direction asking the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to grant certification to the film.
As per the cause list of the apex court, the matter is likely to be taken up on January 19 by the Supreme Court, though the bench that will hear the case is yet to be assigned, as reported by PTI.
On January 9, the Madras High Court stayed a single judge’s order that had directed the CBFC to immediately issue a censor certificate to Jana Nayagan. This development left the fate of the film, starring actor-turned-politician Vijay, uncertain, especially as the movie has attracted attention for its political overtones.
The appeal before the Supreme Court was filed by KVN Productions LLP, which challenged the division bench order of the high court passed last Friday. That order had put on hold the single bench’s directive instructing the CBFC to issue the film’s certificate without delay.
Jana Nayagan, which has been widely promoted as Vijay’s final film before his full-time entry into politics following the launch of his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), was slated for a Pongal release on January 9. However, the release ran into last-minute trouble after the CBFC did not issue certification in time.
Earlier on January 9, Justice PT Asha had directed the CBFC to grant clearance to Jana Nayagan, setting aside the film board’s decision to refer the matter to a review committee. Hours later, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan, hearing an appeal filed by the CBFC, granted an interim stay on the single judge’s order.
While allowing KVN Productions’ plea seeking a direction to the CBFC to issue a censor certificate, Justice Asha observed that once the board had decided to grant certification, the chairperson had no authority to send the matter to a review committee. The film board immediately challenged this order before the division bench.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared through video conferencing, laid out the grounds for the appeal. They pointed out that the CBFC’s January 6 letter to the producer, informing him that the film had been referred to the revising committee, was not under challenge, but was nevertheless set aside by the single judge.
In its order, the division bench noted that the petition had been filed on January 6 and that the CBFC had not been given adequate time to file its response. The bench ordered that there shall be a stay, issued notice to the producer of the film, and posted the matter for further hearing on January 21.
