Jana Nayagan Certification Row: Madras High Court Sets Aside Single Judge Order Directing UA Certificate

In actor-politician Vijay starrer Jana Nayagan film certification dispute, a Madras High Court division bench today set aside the single judge’s order directing CBFC to grant UA certificate to the film.

The division bench held that the merits of the dispute could not have been examined without granting the Central Board of Film Certification a proper opportunity of hearing, especially in the absence of any specific prayer challenging the CBFC chairperson’s order.

On January 20, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan had reserved the judgment in the matter to be pronounced today. 

Earlier, on January 9, the division bench had stayed the operation of the single judge’s order.

The dispute arises out of certification issues between KVN Productions LLP, producer of Jana Nayagan, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Jana Nayagan was submitted to the CBFC for certification on December 18, 2025, after which an examining committee reportedly approved it for a UA 16+ certificate subject to edits. Despite this, the CBFC chairperson referred the film to a revising committee following a complaint about brief depictions of religious sentiments and the armed forces, a move the producers challenged as unreasonable and opaque.

On January 6, 2026, KVN Productions filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking a mandamus directing the CBFC to grant the UA certificate, asserting that the board was deliberately delaying certification and that the film’s theatrical release (initially scheduled for January 9) was jeopardised.

A single judge of the Madras High Court on January 9, 2026 set aside the CBFC chairperson’s review referral and directed the CBFC to grant the UA certificate, observing that once the examining committee’s recommendation was made, the board had no power to reopen certification based on a post-facto complaint.

The CBFC challenged this order on procedural grounds, contending it had not been given adequate opportunity to respond before the single judge granted relief. The division bench stayed the operation of the single judge’s order, observing prima facie that the matter had been heard with undue haste and that the CBFC had been prejudiced by lack of opportunity to place its case. The bench noted that the single judge’s order also quashed a January 6 administrative decision that was not directly challenged in the writ petition.

The interim stay was granted pending final adjudication, and the matter was listed for further hearing on January 20, 2026.

After the stay, KVN Productions filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the division bench’s interim order. On January 15, 2026, a bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih declined to entertain the petition, observing that there was no need for its interference while the Madras High Court division bench was seized of the matter. The apex court directed the producers to pursue relief before the division bench and urged the high court to endeavour to decide the appeal by January 20, 2026.

Case Title: Central Board of Film Certification and Another vs. KVN Productions LLP

Hearing Date: January 20, 2026

Bench: Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan