Attorney General KK Venugopal has granted his consent for initiating criminal contempt against standup comedian Kunal Kamra for his derogatory tweets against a Supreme Court judge for granting TV anchor Arnab Goswami interim bail.
A law student and two lawyers want to sue Kunal Kamra for criminal contempt. Kamra’s tweets are not only in bad taste but clearly cross the line between humour and contempt of the Court, he said. Kamra had also shared a picture of the Supreme Court building dressed in saffron colours with the Tricolour replaced with a flag of the BJP.
Gross insinuation against the entirety of the Supreme Court’
“This is gross insinuation against the entirety of the Supreme Court of India that the Supreme Court of India is not an independent and impartial institution and so too its judges, but on the other hand is a Court of the ruling party, the BJP, existing for the BJPs benefit,” said Venugopal.
‘Kamra’s tweets crossed the line between humour and contempt’
“But under the Constitution, the freedom of speech is subject to the law of contempt and I believe that it is time that people understand that attacking the Supreme Court of India unjustifiably and brazenly will attract punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1972,” he said in his consent letter.
It is time that people understand attacking the Supreme Court unjustifiably and brazenly will lead to punishment, he said adding that the comedian’s tweets were not only in bad taste but clearly crossed the line between humour and contempt.
Calling the tweets “highly objectionable”, he said it would perhaps be for the court to decide the question as to whether these tweets also would constitute criminal contempt of the Supreme Court.
Source: Times Now
