M.Chinnasamy v. The Chairperson

ORDER (Order of the Court was made by C.V.KARTHIKEYAN.,J)

This writ petition has been filed seeking a direction against respondents to reconsider the certification of Tamil film ''Jana Nayagan'' after examining the objections of the petitioner and to consequently remove objectionable scenes in all future screenings of the said movie.

¶2This writ petition is filed in the nature of Public Interest Litigation, but with limited interest over one village, namely ''PAPPAPATTI'' village in Usialampatti Taluk, Madurai District, by M.Chinnaswamy, representing the village people. It had been contended in their affidavit filed in support of this writ petition that in the movie, the following words have been expressed by voice over: ''jkpHfbkq;Fk; gugug;ghf njh;jy; ele;J tUk; epiyapy; ghg;gk;gl;o fpuhkj;J kf;fs; rhjp gpur;rid fhuzkhf %d;whtJ Kiwahf njh;jiy g[wf;fzpj;jdh;''.

¶3The learned counsel contended that the name of the village given above namely, 'Pappampatti' refers to the village of the petitioner herein. He contended that it is very coincidental since it had been specifically indicated that the village ''PAPPAPATTI'' was afflicted with caste issues and the villagers had boycotted the elections three times.

¶4However, a perusal of the script shows that neither Usilampatti nor Madurai District nor ''PAPPAPATTI'' is mentioned. What is mentioned is only Pappampatti, without any reference to a Taluk or to a District. First, it is only creative imagination of the writer of the script. It had been stated that in Pappampatti, which is a fictional village stated in the movie, apparently there was a caste problem. But again, the reference is only to a fictional village called Pappampatti and not to ''PAPPAPATTI'' at Usilampatti in Madurai District. We align ourselves with the expressions of anguish of the villagers of Papappatti, but we would only assure that the reference in the movie was certainly not to ''PAPPAPATTI'' village in Usialampatti Taluk, Madurai District, but to an entirely fictional village. We are confident that the producers of the movie never had an intention to harm the reputation or even to cause any mental harm to any of the villagers of ''PAPPAPATTI'' village.

¶5The learned counsel for the petitioner, however, insisted that in the voice over in the film, the name Madurai District was stated and the letter ''M'' in Pappampatti was not expressed and everybody who listened to the dialogue, would be of the impression that it was ''PAPPAPATTI''. We have, however, been given the original script and a reading of the same shows that the name of the fictional village is given as Pappampatti and the name of Madurai District is not given.

¶6We are inclined to dismiss this writ petition without issuing any direction. But however, understanding the grievance of the petitioner in approaching the Court, we would state we dispose of the writ petition. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.

(C.V.K.,J) & (R.S.V.,J)

17.08.2026 CM TO

¶1The Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Mumbai, India.

¶2The Regional Officer, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), 35-Haddows Road, Shastri Bhavan, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600006. C.V.KARTHIKEYAN,J and R. SAKTHIVEL, J CM and WMP(MD)No.15953 of 2026 Date : 17/08/2026

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT Dated : 17/08/2026 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE C.V.KARTHIKEYAN AND THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R. SAKTHIVEL and WMP(MD)No.15953 of 2026 M.Chinnasamy ... Petitioner Vs 1. The Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Mumbai, India. 2. The Regional Officer, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), 35-Haddows Road, Shastri Bhavan, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600006. 3. Venkat K. Narayana 4. H Vinoth ... Respondents PRAYER:- Writ Petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying this court to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents to reconsider the certification after examining the petitioners objections and to remove the objectionable scenes in all future screening of the movie. For Petitioner : Mr.S.Vidhya Sagar For R1 & R2 : Mr.M.Karthikeya Vengadachalapathy CGSTC