Media365
Kunal Kamra has embroiled himself in legal trouble for taking a jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over switching sides. In the latest development, he has been summoned by Mumbai Police asking him to appear before the investigating officer today, March 25 by 11 AM. Khar Police sent a summon to the comedian’s house, but it has been reported that he is not in Mumbai. The summon came after Kamra issued a statement refusing to apologise and said he wouldn’t bow down to the mob trying to threaten him. On Monday, MIDC registered an FIR against Kamra for his defamatory remarks against Shinde during a show, Naya Bharat. He was booked under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) actions, including 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation), an official from MIDC police station said.
Taking to his Instagram handle, Kunal penned a lengthy statement addressing all the issues since the controversy erupted. “Our right to freedom of speech and expression is not only to be used to fawn over the powerful and rich even though today’s media would have us believe otherwise. Your inability to take a joke at the expense of a powerful public figure does not change the nature of my right,” Kamra penned a statement to political leaders. Adding to it, he said that poking fun at leaders and the political system is not against the law.
“I will not apologise. What I said is exactly what Mr Ajit Pawar (1st deputy CM) said about Mr Eknath Shinde (2nd Deputy CM). I don’t fear this mob & I will bot be hiding under my bed, waiting for this to die down,” he concluded the note.
What did Kunal Kamra say about Eknath Shinde during the stand-up act Naya Bharat?
During his show, Kunal discussed Maharastra politics and jibed at Shinde for switching sides. “Meri nazar se tum dekho to gaddar nazar wo aaye. Haaye!” was a line from his act. He was seemingly referring to the split of the Shiv Sena faction into two – the Shinde faction and the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
This didn’t go down well with the members of Shiv Sena and they vandalised the studio to express their displeasure and anger.
