‘Jana Nayagan’ censor row: Madras High Court permits producer to withdraw writ petition

The Madras High Court on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) permitted the production firm of actor Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan to withdraw a writ petition filed by it on January 6, 2026, seeking a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue a U/A 16+ certificate to the movie within 24 hours.

Justice P.T. Asha dismissed the writ petition as withdrawn after Vijayan Subramanian, counsel for KVN Productions LLP, filed a letter before the High Court Registry stating the production firm had decided to accept the CBFC chairman’s reference to the revising committee, comprising nine members.

The court’s permission to withdraw the petition has cleared the legal hurdles in the way of the CBFC in sending the movie to the revising committee for fresh consideration as to whether the movie must be granted a U (universal), U/A (under adult guidance), or A (adults only) certification.

The release of the movie, originally planned on January 9, had got delayed by over a month due to litigation. The producer submitted the movie for certification under the tatkal procedure on December 18, 2025, and an examining committee comprising five members watched the movie on December 19, 2025.

The producer was informed on December 22, 2025, that the examining committee had recommended a U/A 16+ certification if certain excisions were carried out. The production house accepted the recommendation, carried out all the suggested excisions, and submitted the edited movie before the CBFC on December 24, 2025.

In the meantime, one of the members of the examining committee sent a complaint to the CBFC chairman in Mumbai over the absence of an expert in Army-related issues, despite the movie having several references to the armed forces. Hence, the CBFC chairman put the process on hold on December 29, 2025.

On January 5, 2026, the production house was informed that the CBFC chairman had decided to refer the movie to a nine-member revising committee for reconsideration. The decision was uploaded on the e-cinepramaan portal on January 6, 2026, when the production house rushed to the High Court with the writ petition.

Justice Asha heard the matter on January 6, 2026, after granting a lunch motion and directed the CBFC to submit all the records on January 7, 2026. After perusing the records and hearing the counsel representing both sides, the judge reserved her orders on that day and pronounced them on January 9, 2026.

The single judge directed the CBFC to issue U/A 16+ certificate forthwith. However, the CBFC took her order on appeal within a few hours and obtained an interim stay from the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan on the same day.

The Supreme Court, too, refused to interfere with the interim order. Thereafter, the Division Bench took up the CBFC’s writ appeal for final hearing and set aside the single judge’s order on January 27, 2026. The judges, however, remanded the writ petition to the single judge for a fresh hearing after giving an opportunity to the CBFC to file a counter affidavit.

Pursuant to the Division Bench order, the production firm decided not to pursue the litigation anymore and instead agreed to the reference to the revising committee. To clear all legal hurdles, the producer chose to withdraw the writ petition and submitted a letter to the High Court Registry through its counsel.