The Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside an order of a single judge who had directed the Central Board of Film Certification to grant a U/A certificate to the Tamil film Jana Nayagan, starring actor-politician Vijay, Live Law reported.
A U/A certificate allows children below the age of 12 to watch a film under parental guidance.
A bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan sent the matter back to Justice PT Asha for fresh consideration, stating that the principles of natural justice had not been followed, Live Law reported.
Jana Nayagan, which is expected to be Vijay’s final film before his formal entry into politics, has been caught in a legal battle after the film board delayed the certification of the movie. It was supposed to be released on January 9, ahead of Tamil Nadu’s harvest festival, Pongal.
The producers of the movie, KVN Productions had approached the High Court against the delay.
On January 9, a single-judge bench of the High Court ruled in favour of the production house and directed the film certification board to issue the certificate for the movie, Live Law reported.
The producers had argued that although the board had informed them that the film would be granted a U/A certificate after certain modifications, it was not issued even after those changes were made.
They had also questioned the decision of the chairperson of the film board to refer the film to a revising committee after informing that it would be given a U/A certificate.
The film board had told the single judge that the decision to send the film to a revising committee was taken after it received a complaint from a member of the examining committee, who said that his objections had not been considered. The board said that the complaint claimed that some scenes in the film could hurt religious sentiments, and that they portrayed the armed forces in an improper manner.
On January 9, the single-judge bench held that the chairperson’s decision to send the film for review after informing the producers that it would be certified was without jurisdiction.
The single-judge bench had also criticised the film board for entertaining complaints from examining committee members after they had already given their recommendations.
Soon after the order, the two-judge bench agreed to consider the request made by Additional Solicitor General AL Sundaresan for an urgent hearing of the film board’s writ appeal against the order passed by Asha and stayed the order the same day, The Hindu reported.
The two-judge bench had also made remarks against the producers for “creating an urgency” and putting pressure on the judicial system.
On Tuesday, the court said that the allegations made in the complaint by the member of the examining committee were serious, which prompted the chairperson to refer the film for review, Live Law reported.
It added that considering the nature of the allegations, the single judge should have given the film board an opportunity to defend its decision.
The court also noted that the single judge should not have gone into the merits of the case in the absence of any plea challenging the chairperson’s order, the legal news outlet reported.
The court then asked the producers to amend their petition before the writ court and challenge the chairperson’s order sending the movie for review.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!