Crime Today News
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Monday moved the Bombay High Court seeking to quash a first information report registered against him in Mumbai for his satirical remarks ostensibly about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, reported Bar and Bench.
A Bombay High Court bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and SM Modak has agreed to grant Kamra an urgent hearing on Tuesday.
In Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court on Monday extended its interim order protecting Kamra from arrest until April 17, Bar and Bench reported. The original order was issued on March 28.
On March 23, the comedian posted a video on his YouTube channel in which he ostensibly criticised Shinde while performing a satirical version of a song from a Hindi film.
Kamra alluded to Shinde as a “traitor” while referring to his 2022 rebellion against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the ensuing political crisis in Maharashtra. He, however, did not mention Shinde by name.
After clips of the performance were widely shared on social media, members of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena on the night of March 23 vandalised The Habitat studio in Mumbai’s Khar area, where it was recorded.
The next day, the Mumbai Police filed a case against Kamra under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to defamation and public mischief. The police also sent the comedian two summonses, asking him to appear for questioning on March 31.
Kamra had sought seven days to travel to Mumbai, but the police denied his request.
While granting him interim relief, Justice Sunder Mohan of the Madras High Court on March 28 stated that he was satisfied at a preliminary level that the comedian would not be able to approach courts in Maharashtra for anticipatory bail.
The comedian said in his petition that the Madras High Court had the jurisdiction to hear his anticipatory bail petition as he is a permanent resident of Villupuram town in Tamil Nadu.
A day after the Madras High Court order, three additional first information reports were registered against Kamra based on the complaints filed by Shinde Sena workers.
In their complaints, the Shinde Sena workers claimed that Kamra “defamed the moral conduct” of the deputy chief minister. “He also created hatred between the two political parties by making derogatory statements,” the newspaper quoted the complaints as having stated.
The state government has sought an apology from Kamra for his joke.
On March 24, the comedian stated that he does not “fear this mob” and will not apologise for his joke.
During the proceedings in the Bombay High Court on Monday, Senior Advocate Navroz Seervai, representing Kamra, told the bench that the comedian had been facing several death threats, The Hindu reported.
Kamra questions BookMyShow’s ‘exclusive’ listing rights
Kamra on Monday questioned the “exclusive right” of online ticketing platform BookMyShow to list his shows.
He wrote the letter two days after BookMyShow reportedly removed him from the platform amid the political backlash to his video.
Kamra said that the alleged delisting means he has lost access to the audience that he has performed for between 2017 and 2025.
He requested the platform to either not delist him or provide him with the contact information of audiences who have attended his solo shows, “so that I can continue living my life with dignity and work towards a fair livelihood”.
Dear @bookmyshow – I still don’t know if I have your platform or no.
Below is humble view –
To the audiences I’m not a fan of boycotts or down rating a private business…
Book my show is well within their right to do what’s best for their business | pic.twitter.com/TXaB22sfxI— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) April 7, 2025
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