Supreme Court Adjourns Contempt Case Against Kunal Kamra

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the criminal contempt case initiated against comedian Kunal Kamra over his tweets criticizing the Judiciary, for two weeks.

A bench led by Justices Ashok Bhushan allowed the Petitioner's request to adjourn the matter, so as to enable him to respond to Kamra's counter affidavit.

The Advocate on Record appearing for the petitioner told the Supreme Court that he had received Kamra's affidavit on Friday morning itself. He therefore sought an adjournment to peruse the reply.

The bench, also comprising of Justices R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah allowed the request, and adjourned the matter for two weeks.

Kamra had posted a picture of the Supreme Court dressed in saffron colour with the flag of the ruling party, the BJP. He also published several controversial remark against the Supreme Court such as 'honour has left the building (Supreme Court) long back' and 'Supreme Court of the country is the most Supreme joke of the country'.

The Supreme Court on December 18 issued notice to comedian Kunal Kamra on the petitions filed by Abhyuday Misrha, Skand Bajpai and Srirang Katneshwar, seeking criminal contempt action against him for his tweets made about the top court and judges.

In his reply, Kamra stated that his tweets were not published with the intention of insulting the Court but to draw its attention to and prompt an engagement with issues that he believes are relevant to the Indian democracy. He also said that public faith in the Judiciary cannot be shaken by any criticism or commentary but only by the Courts own actions and accord.

'Suggestion That My Tweets Shake Foundation Of Most Powerful Court An Over-Estimation Of My Abilities' : Kunal Kamra Responds To SC Contempt Notice

Kamra stated that there is a growing culture of intolerance in the country and urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the proceedings instituted against him to demonstrate that the freedom of speech and expression is a cardinal constitutional value.

Background

Advocate Nishant Katneshwarkar, appearing in one of the petitions, referred to Kamra's tweets before the bench. He referred to the Kamra's tweet 'who am I to scandalize the already scandalized', 'this is a contempt of joke' with reference to Supreme Court. One tweet, the counsel said, he cannot read out in the open court.

In another tweet, Kamra published an image replacing the flag of tricolor hoisted above Supreme Court with the flag of the ruling party and made the colour of the building saffron, the counsel said. Kamra also commented that the 'Supreme Court of the country is the Supreme Joke of the country', Katneshwarkar submitted.

During the hearing, Justice Shah remarked that there is no need to read out everything in the open court and that the bench has read the papers.

Law student Skand Bajpai, another petitioner, also sought to make submissions as party in persons. But the bench told him that it has already hear one petitioner and commented that there was no point in multiplying the submissions.

On November 12, finding Kamra's tweet to be highly objectionable, the AG granted his consent under Section 15(1)(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 to initiate criminal contempt. He said,

"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. 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."

The AG's letter referred to Kamra's comments such as 'honour has left the building(Supreme Court) long back' and 'Supreme Court of the country is the most Supreme joke of the country'.

The AG also noted that apart from these comments, Kamra posted a picture of the Supreme Court dressed in saffron colour with the flag of the ruling party, the BJP.

Taking strong exception to this tweet, the AG commented:

"This is a gross insinuation against the entirety of the Supreme Court of India that the Supreme Court of India is not an independent and impartial institution and so too its judges, but on the other hand is a court of the ruling party, the BJP, existing only for the BJP's benefit".

Kamra reacted to AG's consent by saying that he has no intention to 'retract or apologize for his tweets'.

"My view hasn't changed because the silence of the Supreme Court of India on matters of other's personal liberty cannot go uncriticised. I don't intend to retract my tweets or apologize for them. I believe they speak for themselves," he said in a statement posted on Twitter, addressed to the judges and the attorney general.

He added that the "silence of the SupremeCourt on matters of other's personal liberty cannot go uncriticized".

In the statement published through Twitter, Kamra suggested that the time required for the contempt hearing against him may be spent on other important pending matters such as "demonetization petition, a petition challenging the revocation of J&K's special status, the matter of the legality of electoral bonds or countless other matters that are deserving of more time and attention"

Kamra had made a series of tweets regarding the Supreme Court and initiation of contempt against him has been sought for 4 of his tweets posted in the wake of the Supreme Court granting interim bail to Arnab Goswami.