On Friday, the Supreme Court issued Proof of Cause notices to the comedian. Kunal kamra and the cartoonist Rachita Taneja on the reasons that request the initiation of a contempt of court process against them, reported ANI. The court of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah asked them to submit their responses within six weeks, adding that they do not need to appear in person in court.
On Thursday, the court had reserved its order on the matter of deciding whether or not to issue good cause notices.
The case against Kamra relates to a series of tweets he posted criticizing the Supreme Court for the way it expedited the bail statement of Republic TV owner Arnab Goswami in aiding and abetting the suicide case. Even as thousands of subtests languish in prisons across the country, he has a hard time getting a hearing.
Several people immediately sent letters to Attorney General KK Venugopal requesting permission to prosecute Kamra for contempt of court. The attorney general gave his go-ahead on November 12, after which petitions were moved to the Supreme Court seeking a contempt action.
Venugopal had said that Kamra’s tweets were “not only in bad taste, but clearly crossed the line between humor and contempt for the court.” Less than 10 days later, the attorney general approved another set of contempt proceedings against the comedian over a tweet addressed to the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde.
Kamra has maintained that he would not retract his tweets criticizing the Supreme Court or apologize. “No lawyers, no apologies, no fines, no loss of space,” Kamra had said on Twitter.
On the other hand, on December 1, Venugopal gave his consent to initiate a contempt process against Taneja, the creator of the Sanitary Panels webcomic. His case also relates to two tweets he made about the Supreme Court granting Goswami bail in an incitement to the suicide case.
Venugopal said that one of the tweets, a cartoon that Taneja published from the official control of Sanitary Panels, had a “clear implication” that the Supreme Court is biased towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court had reserved its order after listening to lawyer Nishant Katneshwarkar for less than a minute on a series of petitions filed against the two people. Katneshwarkar appeared before the petitioners. Kamra was not represented on Thursday.
Arnab Goswami’s Bail
The Supreme Court had granted Goswami bail in the 2018 suicide complicity case on November 11. Days later, the Supreme Court had elaborated its reasons for granting Goswami bail, noting that criminal law should not become “a tool for the targeted harassment of citizens.”
Goswami and two other people, Feroz Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda, reportedly failed to pay the money they owed to an interior designer named Anvay Naik, managing director of Concorde Designs Private Limited. Naik and his mother were found dead at their home in Kavir village, near Mumbai, in 2018. A suicide note said that Goswami, Shaikh and Sarda had not paid fees worth 5.4 million rupees.
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