Comedian Kunal Kamra Faces Contempt Charges Over Supreme Court Tweets
Attorney General KK Venugopal today gave his consent to eight people who want to sue Kunal Kamra for criminal contempt.
New Delhi, November 12, 2020: Stand-up comic Kunal Kamra faces contempt charges over a series of tweets criticizing the Supreme Court for granting TV anchor Arnab Goswami interim bail on Wednesday.
Attorney General KK Venugopal today gave his consent to eight people who want to sue Kunal Kamra for criminal contempt.
“It is time that people understand attacking the Supreme Court unjustifiably and brazenly will lead to punishment,” Mr Venugopal said in his response to their request.
The Mumbai-based comedian’s tweets were not only in bad taste but “clearly crossed the line between humour and contempt”, the Attorney General said.
Highlighting a tweet that he believed was truly out of line with its “gross insinuation” against the Supreme Court and its judges, he remarked: “Today people boldly and brazenly condemn the Supreme Court and its judges in what they believe is freedom of speech.”
India’s top law officer gave his permission less than 24 hours after Law Student Shirang Katneshwarkar and two lawyers wrote to him about the comic’s tweet storm.
Kunal Kamra has put out multiple tweets since yesterday, raging over the Supreme Court granting interim bail to Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami a week after his arrest over the suicide of an architect, Anvay Naik, and his mother in 2018. A two-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee pulled up the Maharashtra government over the journalist’s arrest and said: “If we as a constitutional court do not lay down law and protect liberty, then who will?”
Kunal Kamra was banned by several airlines in January this year after he heckled Arnab Goswami on an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Lucknow. Mr Kamra had posted a video in which he was seen throwing questions at Mr Goswami, who didn’t respond. Since then, he has had a running feud with the anchor on social media.
