The Attorney General consented to multiple requests for criminal action for contempt against him.
Comedian Kunal Kamra refused to apologize or retract his tweets in the Supreme Court a day after Attorney General KK Venugopal agreed to multiple requests for criminal contempt action against him.
Kamra reacted in a tweet titled “no lawyers, no apologies, no fines, no wasted space.”
In a note attached to the tweet and addressed to “Dear judges, Mr. KK Venugopal”, Mr. Kamra said that his tweets are his opinion. “I think they speak for themselves,” he wrote.
Bail for Arnab
Kamra’s tweets referred to the Supreme Court’s decision to grant a provisional bond to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on November 11.
“My point of view has not changed because the silence of the Supreme Court of India on issues of the personal freedom of others cannot be left without criticism. I do not intend to retract my tweets or apologize for them, “read his note on Twitter.
He said he wanted to “volunteer” the time that can be allotted to him to hear his case of contempt for others “who have not had the luck and privilege to jump the line.”
“May I suggest the demonetization petition, the petition challenging the revocation of J & K’s special status, the issue of the legality of the electoral bonds or myriad other matters that deserve more time and attention,” he wrote.
On Friday, law students Shrirang Katneshwarkar and Nikita Duhan, along with advocates Amey Abhay Sirsikar, Abhishek Sharad Raskar and Sattyendra Vinayak Muley, filed a joint criminal contempt petition against Mr. Kamra based on the consent received from the Attorney General.
“The tweets published by the alleged contemnor are in such bad taste that an ordinary and prudent man can deduce that he has scandalized this Honorable Court and has further lowered its authority,” says his petition.
Mr. Venugopal, in his consent letter, had opined that certain tweets by Mr. Kamra “clearly cross the line between humor and contempt of court.”
SC building image
One of them, Mr. Venugopal had pointed out, was an image of the Supreme Court building draped in saffron with the ruling BJP flag flying above it instead of the Tricolor. He had said that this tweet was a “rude insinuation against the entirety of the Supreme Court of India.”
The tweet hinted that “the Supreme Court is not an independent and impartial institution and so are its judges, but on the other hand it is a court of the ruling party, the BJP, existing for the benefit of the BJP,” he had said.
While he found some other tweets from the comedian also “highly objectionable,” he had left it to the court to decide whether they would constitute contempt.
“I find that today people believe that they can boldly and unabashedly condemn the Supreme Court of India and its judges exercising what they believe to be their freedom of expression. But according to the Constitution, freedom of speech is subject to the contempt law … I think it is time for people to understand that attacking the Supreme Court in an unjustified and brazen manner will attract punishment under the Contempt of Court Law. ”Observed Mr. Venugopal in his letter on Thursday.
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