Attorney General KK Venugopal’ s permission has been sought to initiate contempt of court proceedings against stand-up comic artist Kunal Kamra for his tweets criticising the Supreme Court.
Bombay based lawyer, Rizwan Siddiquee, in his letter to AG has stated that Kamra’s tweets on a judgment passed by the Supreme Court, unsavoury comments on the Justice DY Chandrachud and circulation of a morphed image of the Supreme Court premises, published on Twitter amounts to a “manifest attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India.”
The background of the tweets by Kunal Kamra was the Supreme Court order passed on Wednesday by a Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud granting bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami.
The four tweets by Kamra which forms the basis of Siddiquee’s request are as follows:
1. The Supreme Court of this country is the most Supreme joke of this country…
2 .The pace at which the Supreme Court operates in matters of “National Interests” it’s time we replace Mahatma Gandhi’s photo with Harish Salve’s photo…
3. DY Chandrachud is a flight attendant serving champagne to first class passengers after they’re fast tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.
4. All lawyers with a spine must stop the use of the prefix “Hon’ble” while referring to the Supreme Court or its judges. Honour has left the building long back…
Siddiquee has also highlighted that Kamra had posted a picture which was a morphed image of Supreme Court building giving it an Orange shade and depicting a BJP flag hoisted in the foyer of the Supreme Court.
If such unruly and salacious statements are allowed to go unchecked then users like Kamra who has millions of followers will too follow the same path and make reckless allegations when a judgment is not in their favour, the letter states.
“Greatest strength of the judiciary is the faith of the people in it, a belief that should not allowed to erode because of a calculated and well-timed propaganda of a few,”
reads the letter.
Links to the posts which forms a part of the letter to AG:
The Supreme Court of this country is the the most Supreme joke of this country…
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) November 11, 2020
Contempt of court it seems ??? pic.twitter.com/QOJ7fE11Fy
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) November 11, 2020
The pace at which the Supreme Court operates in matters of “National Interests” it’s time we replace Mahatma Gandhi’s photo with Harish Salve’s photo…
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) November 11, 2020
DY Chandrachud is a flight attendant serving champagne to first class passengers after they’re fast tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.
*Justice*— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) November 11, 2020
