From EVMs To Contempt Of Courtroom: 10 Controversies Of Comic Kunal Kamra
New Delhi:
Comic Kunal Kamra’s Mumbai occasion was disrupted by Shiv Sena leaders on Sunday after he made jokes that have been seen as directed at their occasion chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Shiv Sena staff vandalised Lodge Unicontinental in Mumbai’s Khar space the place Mr Kamra’s present with ‘gaddar’ (traitor) jibe at Deputy CM Eknath Shinde was filmed.
Mr Kamra has been concerned in a number of controversies, primarily associated to his outspoken commentary on political and judicial issues. This is an summary primarily based on publicly out there data:
Contempt Of Courtroom Case
The Supreme Courtroom initiated contempt proceedings towards Mr Kamra because of a collection of tweets criticising the judiciary following the courtroom’s determination to grant bail to journalist Arnab Goswami. He had mocked former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
Mr Kamra had taken to Twitter quickly after Mr Goswami was launched on interim bail in an abetment to suicide case. In his first put up on X (then generally known as Twitter), he known as the Supreme Courtroom “Supreme Joke of the nation”. This was adopted up by a morphed photograph that confirmed the Supreme Courtroom in saffron with a BJP flag flying over it. He made scathing remarks attacking former Chief Justice Chandrachud by evaluating him to a flight attendant serving champagne to first-class passengers.
In December 2020, the Supreme Courtroom issued a present trigger discover to Mr Kamra over his tweets. He was requested to clarify why motion shouldn’t be taken towards him for contempt of courtroom. Mr Kamra publicly mentioned he will not apologise for his tweets. In his official response to the Supreme Courtroom, he defended his proper to free speech and refused to retract his statements.
‘Brahmin-Baniya’ Comment On Supreme Courtroom
In Might 2020, a petition was filed within the Supreme Courtroom towards Mr Kamra for his comment that the Supreme Courtroom was a “Brahmin-Baniya” affair in his present ‘Be Like’. The petition was filed as an intervention utility in an already pending contempt of courtroom case towards Mr Kamra. Lawyer-Common KK Venugopal had permitted a contempt continuing towards Mr Kamra for allegedly disparaging the judiciary and judges by his social media posts.
Airport Incident
Mr Kamra confronted Mr Goswami throughout a flight, resulting in a ban from main airways like IndiGo, Air India, GoAir and SpiceJet for six months. Whereas not a proper authorized case, this incident sparked widespread dialogue.
Mr Kamra harassed and heckled Mr Goswami on a January 2020 journey from Mumbai to Lucknow. Mr Kamra then turned to Twitter to share a clip of himself heckling the journalist. He additionally tweeted he had a “monologue” with Mr Goswami on his journalism. He known as Mr Goswami a “coward”, amongst different issues. He closed the tweet with the phrases “f*** Arnab”, and mentioned Mr Goswami failed to reply and labelled him mentally insane.
Assaults On PM Narendra Modi Over Covid
In 2021, Mr Kamra made critical allegations on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dealing with of the COVID-19 disaster in an opinion video. He accused PM Modi of placing political self-importance earlier than widespread sense and opening the door to a devastating resurgence of coronavirus infections. Mr Kamra mentioned had PM Modi and different political leaders responded shortly and successfully, a number of lives and heartache would have been spared.
Kid’s ‘Morphed’ Video Row
In Might 2020, Mr Kamra landed in an issue for sharing an edited video of a seven-year-old boy singing for PM Modi throughout his go to to Germany. The Nationwide Fee for Safety of Baby Rights (NCPCR) sought motion towards the comic for posting a “doctored” video of a boy singing a patriotic track in entrance of PM Modi. The NCPCR additionally sought instant elimination of the video.
Reacting, Mr Kamra mentioned the video was within the public area and posted by a information organisation. “The joke is just not in your son, whilst you take pleasure in your son sing for his motherland to the most well-liked son, there are songs that he ought to take heed to from individuals of his nation additionally,” Mr Kamra posted. In one other put up, he mentioned the NCPCR sought motion towards him for posting a “meme”.
‘Kashmir Information‘ Controversy
In 2022, lawyer Chandni Preeti Vijaykumar Shah wrote to Lawyer Common KK Venugopal in search of to provoke felony proceedings towards the comic below the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005. Mr Kamra insulted India’s nationwide emblem by utilizing it in a morphed certificates that shamed the agony of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide and blatantly mocked the movie ‘The Kashmir Information’, the lawyer mentioned.
Two attorneys – Ashutosh Dubey and Vineet Jindal – in the identical month additionally wrote to Mr Venugopal requesting permission to begin contempt proceedings towards the humorist for vilifying and defaming the Indian judiciary in his current comedy video.
Authorized Discover From VHP Over Alleged Insult To Hindu Deities
Mr Kamra’s present in Gurugram was cancelled by the membership that was to host it after some right-wing organisations threatened protests over his jokes allegedly “insulting Hindu gods”. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) despatched Mr Kamra a authorized discover, accusing him of insulting Hindu gods in his comedy reveals. They demanded an apology and warned of authorized motion.
In September 2022, Mr Kamra wrote to the VHP asking it to denounce Mahatma Gandhi’s murderer Nathuram Godse to show that the outfit is pro-Hindu and anti-terrorism. He additionally requested them to indicate proof that he disrespected the Hindu faith.
Alleged Harassment Of Girls Comedians
In a weblog which went viral on social media in 2020, a girl named Anubha Sinha alleged comedians Kunal Kamra and #MeToo accused Utsav Chakraborty made faux X IDs to harass fellow ladies comedians.
Ms Sinha mentioned she overheard Mr Kamra say that Mr Chakraborty and himself would make faux accounts on X to harass ladies standup comedians. Ms Sinha mentioned she didn’t write about it earlier, however after Mr Kamra heckled the Republic TV Editor-in-Chief on an Indigo flight, she determined to put in writing about it.
Kunal Kamra’s Problem To IT guidelines
In April 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Info Expertise issued the Info Expertise (Middleman Pointers and Digital Media Ethics Code) Modification Guidelines, 2023 (IT Guidelines 2023). These guidelines direct social media intermediaries (akin to Fb, Twitter, and many others) to take away any information associated to the “enterprise of the central authorities” that’s deemed “faux, false, or deceptive” by a fact-checking unit established by the Union authorities.
Mr Kamra challenged the foundations within the Bombay Excessive Courtroom. He mentioned the formation of a fact-check unit is in battle with Part 79 of the Info Expertise Act, 2000 (IT Act) which is a protected harbour provision for social media intermediaries. It protects them from legal responsibility for user-generated content material. The Supreme Courtroom will resolve if a keep on the notification of a authorities truth examine unit below the IT Guidelines, 2023 could be granted.
Criticism Of Election Fee And EVMs
Mr Kamra mocked the Election Fee and use of EVMs (digital voting machines) in numerous posts and movies. This led to complaints from political teams, though no authorized motion was formally confirmed.
