A single judge of the Madras High Court directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue a U/A 16+ certificate to ‘Jana Nayagan’, and a Division Bench stayed that order within a few hours. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan granted an interim stay on an appeal, accepting Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan’s request for urgent hearing. The Bench said the single judge should have given the CBFC time to file a counter affidavit and said the writ petition should not have been allowed within two days of filing without giving the board proper opportunity to defend itself. The CBFC’s Regional Officer said the chairman decided to refer the film to a revising committee based on a complaint about portrayal of armed forces scenes and the absence of an expert member in the examining committee.