The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved a verdict on the plea to cancel the FIR by comedian Kunal Kamra in connection with the alleged discomfort on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Kamra has also been given interim relief from arrest.
Justice S. Kotwal and Justice S. The bench of Modak, after hearing the arguments of both the parties, reserved the order and directed that the Mumbai Police would not arrest Kunal Kamra until the next order comes. It is noteworthy that an FIR was lodged against him at Khar police station, alleging that he called Deputy Chief Minister Shinde a “traitor” during a show.
Controversy arose from stand-up show
The entire controversy began when Kunal Kamra took a dig at the political life of Deputy Chief Minister Shinde at a show at Haibittet Comedy Club in the Unicant Comedy Club in Khar area of Khar area of Mumbai on Sunday. The 36 -year -old comedian not only called Shinde a “traitor”, but sang a converted version of a famous song of the film Dil To Pagal Hai, comparing his rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray in 2022.
After the show, the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) activists allegedly vandalized the Habitat Comedy Club and the hotel premises. The next day, the police, the young leader of Shiv Sena, Rahul N. Arrested 11 other activists, including Kanal. However, on the same day a local court granted bail to all.
Bookmayasho removed Kamra’s name, ticket sales stopped
The dispute also affected Kamra’s professional life. Popular online ticketing platform bookmayasho on Saturday removed all the shows and materials related to Kunal Kamra from their website. Also, he was removed from his artist list.
The move was taken after a letter written by Shiv Sena leader Rahul Kanal, in which he requested the bookmayasho not to give the stage to Kamra. In the letter, he wrote that Kamra’s “controversial and divisive rhetoric” is hurting public sentiment and may pose a threat to social peace in a diversified city like Mumbai.
Kamra’s answer: “I will not apologize”
Reacting to this entire controversy, Kunal Kamra said in a detailed post on social media that he would not apologize in any way. He wrote, “I will not apologize. I am not afraid of this crowd.”
He also said that his comment was the same as “Ajit Pawar had said about Eknath Shinde.”
Kamra clarified that a platform is only one place, which is not a representative of an artist’s ideas. He wrote, “Habitate (or any other place) is not responsible for my words or presentation. Nor does any political party control it.”
“The right to freedom of expression”: Kamra
Kamra said that he would not back down despite “being threatened by politicians”. He wrote, “As far as I know, making fun of leaders and political system is not illegal. I will fully cooperate with the police and the court in any legal process filed against me.”
