In response to the notice given by the Supreme Court for his criticism of the top court in tweets last year, comedian Kunal Kamra has stated that there is no defence needed for jokes.
Kamra was issued a notice of contempt on December 18 over his tweets attacking the Supreme Court for granting TV anchor Arnab Goswami bail after his arrest in an abetment to suicide case.
While refusing to apologise for his tweet against the Supreme Court, Kamra stated that “jokes are not reality and do not claim to be so”.
In his response he further stated:
Should powerful people and institutions continue to show an inability to tolerate rebuke or criticism, we would be reduced to a country of incarcerated artists and flourishing lapdogs.
The comedian further said that he will happily accept and respect any decision with a broad smile and will not do anything that would actually amount to contempt of court.
This is what people have to say about Kamra’s witty yet, articulate response to the Supreme Court.
Eight people, mostly lawyers, had filed cases against him. KK Venugopal, the government’s top law, had earlier said that Kamra’s tweets were “in bad taste” and “crossed the line between humour and contempt”.