Vijay (file photo) New Delhi: In a major blow to actor Vijay, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea against the stay order passed by a division bench of the Madras High Court on the certification of his film “Jana Nayakan”. The top court asked KVN Productions to raise its grievances before a division bench of the Madras HC, which is probing the issue.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and AG Masih asked the Madras High Court to decide on the matter by January 20. 9, The Madras High Court stayed a single judge’s order to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to immediately grant a censor certificate to Jan Nayakan, leaving the future of actor-turned-politician Vijay’s film uncertain.

While KVN Productions LLP appealed against the single judge’s direction, a division bench of the High Court last Friday stayed the order and restrained the CBFC from issuing the certificate. Vijay has recently launched his own political party, Tamilaga. Vetri Kazhagam.

“Jana Nayagan”, widely projected as Vijay’s final film before his full-time entry into politics, was scheduled for a Pongal release on 9 January. However, the release hit last-minute hurdles after the CBFC failed to issue the certification on time. The division bench’s order came hours after Justice PT Asha directed the CBFC to clear “Jana Nayagan”, rejecting the film board’s decision to refer the case to a review committee.

The first bench of Chief Justice MM Srivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, acting on the appeal filed by CBFC, put an interim stay on the single judge’s decision. Earlier, while accepting KVN Productions’ plea seeking direction to CBFC to issue the censor certificate, Justice Asha said that once the board has decided to grant certification, the Chairman has no authority to send the film to the review committee. The Film Board immediately challenged the order before the Division Bench.