Kunal Kamra Row: Madras High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Comedian

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra was granted temporary transit anticipatory bail by the Madras High Court on Friday, March 28. The court also set the next hearing for April 7 and sent a notice to the Mumbai Police. Judge Sunder Mohan stated that he is convinced Kamra cannot seek protection from the Maharashtra courts. This made the judge lean towards granting temporary anticipatory bail. The second respondent in the case, the Khar Police Station, has been granted private notice by the court. 

On March 28, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra went to the Madras High Court to request anticipatory bail in the traitor comment case.  Due to the contentious video he posted on YouTube, in which he mocks businesspeople and other political figures, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a formal complaint has been filed against him.  His comments against Deputy DM Eknath Shinde are the primary focus of his case.  Although Eknath Shinde's supporters assert that Kunal Kamra labelled Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde Gaddar (Traitor), he did not specifically mention his name in the video.  They believed that by causing a rift inside the party in 2022, he was accusing Shinde of being a gaddar.

Also Read: Kunal Kamra Row: Stand-Up Comic Moves to Madras HC Seeking Transit Anticipatory Bail in Traitor Remark Case

According to Live Law, Kunal Kamra claimed that the Madras High Court had jurisdiction over this case because he is a long-term resident of Villupuram town in Tamil Nadu. He therefore went to the Madras High Court today to request bail. According to the report, this case was urgently brought up before Justice Sunder Mohan, who is scheduled to hear it on March 28. Shiv Sena MLA Muraji Patel filed a zero FIR against Kunal Kamra under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 353(1)(b), 353(2) [Public mischief], and 356(2) [Defamation]. Later, the FIR was moved to Mumbai's Khar police station.

The video that Kunal Kamra posted caused a huge commotion. He parodied the well-known Hindi song "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" during the performance. Supporters of Deputy CM Shinde were incensed by his song-based mocking and vandalised the performance space the night the video was made public. When the video was released the following day, BMC representatives arrived on the scene and destroyed the property. Kunal Kamra responded to the entire affair by criticising BMC. The next time, he promised, he would choose any infrastructure that required immediate demolition. He posted, "An entertainment venue is merely a platform. A space for all sorts of shows. Habitat (or any other venue) is not responsible for my comedy, nor does it have any power or control over what I say or do. Neither does any political party. Attacking a venue for a comedian's words is as senseless as overturning a lorry carrying tomatoes, because you didn't like the butter chicken you were served."