Attorney General KK Venugopal on Friday, 20 November, gave his consent for initiation of contempt of court proceeding against comedian Kunal Kumar for his latest tweet on Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde.
In a letter responding to request for initiation of contempt proceedings, that his since been shared on ANI, the attorney general said:
“The said tweet is grossly vulgar and obnoxious, and I have no doubt that it would tend to lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India as well as undermine the confidence that the litigant public have in the institution of the Supreme Court itself...In view of the above, I accordingly grant consent under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1975.”
THE LATEST TWEET
The tweet by Kamra dated, 18 November, shows two fingers pressing against and airplane window and the text, followed by “laugh” emojis, reads:
“One of these 2 fingers is for CJI Arvind Bobde... ok let me not confuse you it’s the middle one (sic)”
BACKGROUND
Previously, on Thursday, 12 November, Attorney General KK Venugopal had given his consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against comedian Kunal Kamra for two of his tweets about the Supreme Court.
Thereby, Kamra, on 13 November, said that he doesn't intend to retract his tweets or apologise for them.
"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 apologise for them. I believe they speak for themselves," he said in a statement posted on Twitter, addressed to the judges and the attorney general.
Meanwhile, a joint committee of Parliament for Data Protection, on Thursday, 19 November, asked Twitter why it has not taken action against tweets about the Chief Justice of India by comedian Kunal Kamra, reported ANI.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)