Comedian Kunal Kamra moves Bombay High Court to quash FIR over joke about Eknath Shinde

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Monday moved the Bombay High Court seeking to quash a first information report registered against him in Mumbai for his satirical remarks ostensibly about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, reported Bar and Bench.

A Bombay High Court bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and SM Modak has agreed to grant Kamra an urgent hearing on Tuesday.

In Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court on Monday extended its interim order protecting Kamra from arrest until April 17, Bar and Bench reported. The original order was issued on March 28.

On March 23, the comedian posted a video on his YouTube channel in which he ostensibly criticised Shinde while performing a satirical version of a song from a Hindi film.

Kamra alluded to Shinde as a “traitor” while referring to his 2022 rebellion against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the ensuing political crisis in Maharashtra. He, however, did not mention Shinde by name.

After clips of the performance were widely shared on social media, members of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena on the night of March 23 vandalised The Habitat studio in Mumbai’s Khar area, where it was recorded.

The next day, the Mumbai Police filed a case against Kamra under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to defamation and public mischief. The police also sent the comedian two...

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