Bombay HC reserves order on plea, says comedian not be arrested till then

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on Kunal Kamra`s plea seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him and said he need not be arrested till then, reported the PTI.

Kamra was booked by the Mumbai Police for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

An FIR has been registered at the Khar Police Station in suburban Mumbai against comedian Kunal Kamra for indirectly passing a “traitor” jibe at Eknath Shinde during a comedy show in the metropolis.

According to the PTI, a division bench of Justices S Kotwal and S Modak, after hearing arguments from both sides, reserved its order on the matter.
The court asked police not to arrest the comedian till the order is passed in the matter.

The 36-year-old stand-up comic has moved the HC against the FIR filed on a complaint of a Shiv Sena MLA. He faces complaints at other police stations also.

Kunal Kamra, in his plea, has claimed the complaints against him were violative of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, right to practice any profession and business and right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution, as per the PTI.

Kamra, a resident of Tamil Nadu, last month got interim transit anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court in the case.

The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summonses issued to him.

During the show, Kamra had taunted Eknath Shinde, without taking his name, using a modified version of a Hindi song from the 1997 film “Dil To Pagal Hai” where he called him a “gaddar” (traitor).

The had reportedly comedian referred to Eknath Shinde`s early profession in Maharashtra`s Thane before he entered politics and also made references to his rebellion against then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022.

Earlier, on April 9, the Bombay High Court had said that the Maharashtra government has not taken vindictive action against any person for re-sharing or re-uploading stand-up comic Kunal Kamra`s video in which he indirectly passed a “traitor” jibe at Eknath Shinde.

(with PTI inputs)