Kunal Kamra row: Court reserves order on comedian's plea seeking no coercive action

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgement on a plea filed by stand-up comic Kunal Kamra seeking the pausing of the FIR registered against him. The FIR was filed by a Shiv Sena MLA for the comedian's 'gaddar' (traitor) remark on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a performance last month.
In the plea, Kamra had sought a pause in the investigation and that no coercive action be taken against him. The High Court further directed that Kamra should not be arrested in the meantime. The comedian had been granted interim relief till Thursday from arrest by Madras High Court.While reserving judgment, a bench of Justices Sarang V Kotwal and SM Modak noted that the summons issued to Kamra were under Section 35(3) of BNSS, which is applicable when the police officer doesn't deem arrest necessary, but there's a reasonable complaint, credible information or reasonable suspicion that a cognisable offence has been committed.The bench said the Khar police officials can go to Tamil Nadu, where Kamra has been living for the past five years and record his statement there. The bench noted that the basic concern of the comedian was that of security, as he had been facing threats of being assaulted, and his face blackened by Shinde's supporters.The bench opined that Khar police can take the assistance of Tamil Nadu Police and record Kamra's statement in Tamil Nadu.During the hearing, advocates Navroz Seervai and Ashwin Thool, appearing for Kamra, argued that what Kamra had said was only a political satire."The comments and personal sentiments expressed by Kamra, and in particular, the use of the word traitor are identical to those expressed by various prominent individuals in public life, including by the present Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and by the former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray," said Seervai.He added that no one vandalised the halls where the politicians said or no FIR was registered against those leaders and it was only a stand-up comic being made a scapegoat.Seervai stressed that the police were supposed to do a preliminary enquiry and then register an FIR, but in this case, the FIR was registered in 70 minutes.Public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, appearing for the state government, submitted that a preliminary enquiry was conducted when the police officer saw the video and confirmed that it had been uploaded on Kamra's social media pages.
Venegaonkar further said that if the court was convinced that a cognisable offence had occurred, it did not need to look at Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens freedom of speech and expression.
"If you look at the parody, this is a criticism of a person who is holding authority as Deputy Chief Minister after being elected by the people. So, by no stretch of the imagination, it can be called a political satire. Neither can it be said to be an opinion about the functioning of the state under the Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister. We need to draw a line between humorous criticism and malicious targeting," Venegaonkar said.
He added that "absolutely false misleading information" was shared when the video was shot and public tranquillity was disturbed as Shiv Sena workers vandalised The Habitat studio in Mumbai where the video was shot.

The public prosecutor further submitted that Kamra has been on social media for years. "It is difficult to understand that when you make malicious comments then you are not aware of the fallout. He knows the consequences of the words spoken and, therefore, it can be said that it was done with intent, as he is a well-educated person and not illiterate," Venegaonkar said.