Bombay HC issues notice to police, Shiv Sena MLA on Kunal Kamra's plea against FIR after 'traitor' jibe

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Mumbai police and Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel on comedian Kunal Kamra's plea challenging an FIR lodged against him for allegedly passing a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and S M Modak said it would hear Kamra's petition on April 16.

The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summons issued to him.

Following a complaint by Sena MLA Murji Patel, the Khar police in Mumbai last month registered the FIR against Kamra under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation).

"Issue notice to the respondents (police and Patel). They shall take instructions and respond to the plea," the HC said. Three FIRs registered against the comedian at Nashik Rural, Jalgaon, and Nashik (Nandgaon) have also been transferred to the Khar police.

Kamra's counsel, Navroz Seervai, informed the Bombay HC bench that the Madras High Court on Monday extended till April 17 the earlier interim transit anticipatory bail granted to the comedian.

The petitioner has offered in writing thrice to the police to allow him to appear for questioning via video conference in light of the dangers and threat to his life, Seervai said. "It seems that the police authorities are not so keen on recording his statement but more on bringing him here physically," the senior counsel claimed.

Kamra is presently in Tamil Nadu, where he has been residing since 2021, as per his plea. "This is not a case of murder. It is an FIR that has stemmed from a stand-up comedy show. He (Kamra) is ready to cooperate with the probe but through video conference," Seervai said. The bench said it would consider all issues on April 16.

During the show, stand-up comedian Kamra taunted Shinde, without taking his name, using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film "Dil To Pagal Hai" where he called him a "gaddar" (traitor). The comedian went on to joke about how Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership (in June 2022).

In his plea filed on April 5, Kamra claimed the complaints against him were violative of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, right to practice any profession and business, and right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

He sought for the FIR to be quashed, claiming the allegations, even if taken at face value, do not constitute an offence.

The comedian also sought the HC to protect him from any coercive action including arrest, seizure of his personal electronic devices, and examination of his financial transactions and accounts.

"To permit the investigation to continue would constitute a frontal assault on the freedom of speech and expression. Should a citizen's right to comment on the political developments and actions of political leaders be criminalised in this manner?" the petition said. Kamra said his remarks regarding the split in the Shiv Sena, Shinde quitting Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction, and being sworn in as the chief minister at the time (in 2022) are all part of the records.

The plea said the FIR has been registered on a stand-up comedy performance, which provides satirical commentary on various social and political events of the country.

There has been a gross abuse of process and the malafide deployment of the criminal justice machinery by a member of the state's legislative assembly, resulting in a patent violation of a citizen's fundamental rights, it claimed.

As per the petition, Kamra wrote the show's script in July 2024 and performed it on 60 occasions between August last year and February 2025. A recording of the show was uploaded only in March 2025, pursuant to which case was lodged, it said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)

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