Attorney General KK Venugopal has granted his consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against far-left troll masquerading as a ‘stand-up comedian’ Kunal Kamra. A Mumbai based lawyer had sought the Attorney General’s permission to initiate contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra for his tweets against the Supreme Court, after apex court had granted bail to Arnab Goswami.
According to the reports, the AG KK Venugopal, granting his consent to initiate proceedings against Kamra said the tweets by Kamra, where he referred to the Supreme Court of India as Supreme Joke India, and said that humour has left the SC long ago, “were highly objectionable.”
In his consent letter, KK Venugopal stated that the other tweets also are highly objectionable and 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 of India. The AG also referred to one image posted by Kamra where the Supreme Court was shown in saffron colour, and the Indian flag was replaced by the flag of BJP, insinuating that Supreme Court is working under BJP.
[Breaking] Attorney General gives consent to initiate criminal contempt against Kunal Kamra @kunalkamra88 for his tweets on Supreme Court in the wake of bail granted to #ArnabGoswami.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) November 12, 2020
The AG gave consent on the letter petition filed by law student @SkandBajpai
“I find that today people believe that they can boldly and brazenly condemn the Supreme Court of India and its judges by exercising what they believe is their freedom of speech,” the Attorney General KK Venugopal said in his letter to the Mumbai-based lawyer Rizwan Siddique.
He added, “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 unjustifiedly and brazenly will attract punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1972, I, therefore, grant consent to proceed by way of initiating contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra”.
Mumbai-based lawyer had sought the consent of AG to file contempt proceedings
Earlier, Mumbai-based lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee had sought Attorney General KK Venugopal’s permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kunal Kamra.
The infamous so-called comedian lost his cool when the Supreme Court of India granted interim bail to Arnab Goswami on 11th November. Kamra published a series of Tweets where he described the Supreme Court of India as ‘Supreme Joke of India’. As per the law, his tweets are subject to contempt proceedings.
COMPLAINT filed with the Attorney General of India. #KKVenugopal Sir please do take it forward.
— Advocate Rizwan Siddiquee (@RizwanSiddiquee) November 11, 2020
Judiciary can not be mocked by anyone therefore “Contempt proceedings ought to be initiated” https://t.co/NgzuqMVKNZ
In his letter to AG, Siddiquee said that Kamra posted unsavoury comments on the Supreme Court and Justice DY Chandrachud. He also circulated a morphed image of the Supreme Court premises. Siddiquee said his tweets amount to a “manifest attempt to lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India.”
Kamra’s tweets against Supreme Court and Justice Chandrachud
Siddiquee added five tweets by Kamra in his letter. In the first tweet, Kamra compared the Supreme Court to a Supreme Joke. In the next tweet, he wrote, “The pace at which the Supreme Court operates in matters of “National Interests” it’s time we replace Mahatma Gandhi’s photo with Harish Salve’s photo.”
In the third tweet, he compared DY Chandrachud to“flight attendant serving champagne to first-class passengers after they’re fast-tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.” In the last tweet, he provoked lawyers to stop using the prefix “Hon’ble” while referring to the Supreme Court or its judges. He said, “Honour has left the building long back.”
Siddiquee highlighted another tweet by Kamra where he posted a morphed image of the Supreme Court building giving it an Orange shade with the BJP flag hoisted in the Supreme Court’s entrance.
He said if the court does not take action based on the derogatory statements made by Kamra, his millions of followers will follow the same path and make reckless allegations when judgment is not in their favour. He further added, “Greatest strength of the judiciary is the faith of the people in it, a belief that should not allowed to erode because of a calculated and well-timed propaganda of a few,”.
Yesterday, lawyer Chandni Shah had filed a contempt plea against Kamra for his vile remarks, which was handed over to the Secretary-General of Supreme Court of India. Along with this, she also filed a cybercrime complaint against him.
