Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 28: The Madras High Court on Friday granted interim anticipatory bail plea till April 7 to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra to protest him from being arrested by the Mumbai police after an FIR was registered against him for allegedly insulting Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.
A bench of Justice Sunder Mohan said Kamra has prima facie satisfied the Madras High Court that he was unable to approach courts in Maharashtra for protection. Kamra received the relief till April 7 as his counsel had urged for sufficient time to approach courts in Maharashtra.
Mr Kamra made the submission through his counsel in a plea to grant him inter-State anticipatory bail until he could approach the Bombay High Court and obtain regular anticipatory bail in the case booked against him at the Khar police station in Mumbai on a complaint lodged by the Andheri East Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLA Murji Kazi Patel.
In his petition, Mr Kamra had said he had moved out of Mumbai and settled down in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu because he was desirous of leading a quiet life in a rural area. He claimed to be a resident of Tamil Nadu since February 2021.
Justice Mohan observed that the case did not warrant custodial interrogation and that Kamra can’t approach Maharashtra courts for relief as there are threats by party workers, ministers there, and that hence interim anticipatory bail was sought to approach Maharashtra courts later. The lawyer, appearing for Kamra, apprised the high court that the comedian has received over 500 threat calls.
“They say they will ‘teach them in Shiv Sena style’. What is ‘Shiv Sena style’ is common knowledge… The people who vandalised the hotel – no serious action taken, they are let out on bail. This is the type of threat I am facing. I have always said I believe in the Constitution,” Kamra’s counsel said. Kamra’s counsel said no one has been named in the stand-up act and the comedian has talked about many people. “Parody is part of satire. Supreme Court has said satire, parody is part of accepted speech,” he added.
Kamra submitted he moved to Tamil Nadu from Mumbai in 2021 and has been “ordinarily a resident of this State since then” and that he feared arrest by Mumbai Police. The 36-year-old stand-up comic has received two summons by the Mumbai police over his comments on Mr Shinde during his latest show.
The controversy stems from Kamra’s show at the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai’s Khar, where he performed a parody song targeting Shinde. The act prompted a strong backlash from Shiv Sena supporters, who vandalised the club and the hotel in which it is located on Sunday night.
The summons were served upon the petitioner’s parents in Mumbai. On coming to know about it, the petitioner made a request to the Khar police to permit him to appear for inquiry through video conferencing and also sought two weeks’ time to appear before the investigating officer concerned.
In response, the police intimated him that he could appear on March 30 but there was no clarification as to whether he could appear through video call. In the meantime, the petitioner complained to have received a barrage of death threats from politicians as well as through anonymous phone calls.
Listing out the threats he had received, the petitioner feared people might cause harm to either to him or his loved ones. He also feared the Mumbai police might arrest him and subject him to physical torture if he had to wait until the Bombay High Court grants him anticipatory bail.
Further, highlighting that the Bombay High Court would be on leave for a considerable number of days in the first three weeks of April, the petitioner urged the Madras High Court to grant him inter-State anticipatory bail until he could obtain regular anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court.
Mr Kamra, who has also uploaded at least two more parodies mimicking Sudha Murty, writer and MP, the wife of the Infosys chairman Narayana Murty, and also Anand Mahindra, criticised the Bollywood studio T-Series for withdrawing from viewership his “Naya Bharat” video which sparked the controversy for allegedly targeting the Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, though he had not taken any name in the video.
Mr Kamra on Wednesday dropped a new video from the comedy special, in which he performed a parody of “Hawa Hawai” from “Mr India” to criticise Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her policies. The songs of “Mr India”, which featured Anil Kapoor and late cinema star Sridevi, belong to T-Series label.
Mr Kamra shared a screenshot from YouTube on X, which showed “Naya Bharat,” his new video, has been blocked due to copyright restrictions and therefore is not visible to viewers. Due to copyright claims, the video will not be able to generate revenue as well.
“Hello @TSeries, stop being a stooge. Parody and Satire comes under fair use legally. I haven’t used the lyrics or the original instrumental of the song. If you take this video down every cover song/dance video can be taken down. Creators please take a note of it,” the 36-year-old comic said. “Having said that every monopoly in India is nothing short of Mafia so please watch/download this special before it’s taken down. FYI – T- Series I stay in Tamil Nadu (sic),” he added.
In a statement, a spokesperson of T-Series said, “Mr Kunal Kamra has not taken any authorisation or approval for the usage of the underlying musical work in the song hence the content has been blocked for infringement of composition rights.” “Naya Bharat”, which also made jokes about recent political developments in Maharashtra, including the Shiv Sena and NCP splits, has amassed over 6.7 million views on YouTube.
Since uploading the video on March 23, Mr Kamra has also received monetary contributions from his fans through YouTube’s Super Thanks feature, which allows creators to earn revenue and engage with viewers. Mr Kamra has said he would not apologise for his comments in the video.
The police have also registered a case against 40 workers of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena for vandalising the venue of the comedian’s show who on March 23 had attacked and damaged the Habitat Comedy studio in Khar where Mr Kamra had shot the video. About a dozen Sena workers arrested earlier in this connection have been released on bail.
