Jana Nayagan row: Supreme Court to hear producers appeal on January 15

A Division Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Dipankar Datta, will on January 15 hear an appeal filed by the production house of Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan against an order of stay passed by a Division Bench of the Madras High Court over the certification of the film.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Augustine George Masih, would hear KVN Productions’ challenge against the decision of a two-judge Bench of the High Court to stay a single judge’s order to issue U/A 16+ certificate to the film, hours after it was passed.

The production house has arraigned the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and its Regional Officer as respondents in the case before the Supreme Court.

The production firm had initially approached a single judge Bench against a decision of the CBFC chairman to review the CBFC examining committee’s decision to clear the film for issuance of a censor certificate.

The CBFC had countered this by saying one of the five members of the examining committee had sent a complaint to the CBFC chairman, stating that his objections were not considered properly before making the recommendation.

It had argued that the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules of 2024 empowered the chairman to refer a movie to the revising committee if he/she does not agree with the recommendation of the examining panel. The Board had argued that judicial review on the merits of issuance of censor certificates was limited.