“No Defence Needed For Jokes”: Comedian Kunal Kamra To SC

Comedian Kunal Kamra refuses to defend his jokes on a contempt notice from court

Comedian Kunal Kamra in a reply to the contempt notice by the Supreme Court for his criticism of the top court in his tweets last year said that there is no defence needed for jokes. In his response Kamra did not offer an apology and said that “jokes are not reality and did not claim to be so.” Kamra also said that “there is no defence needed for jokes and it is based on a comedian’s perception”, he added further that the posts on twitter were not made with an intention of “diminishing faith of people in judiciary.”

Comedian Kamra faces contempt cases over his tweets on attacking the SC for granting bail o TV anchor Arnab Goswami after his abetment to suicide case arrest. A group of eight individuals, mostly lawyers filed a suit against him. Last year comedian Kamra and cartoonist Rachita Taneja received contempt notices from the Supreme Court which asked them to respond within six months. However the court exempted them from personal appearances. It also questioned them and asked to explain why no contempt action should be taken against them for “scandalizing the judiciary.”

KK Venugopal the top lawyer of the government said that Mr Kamra’s tweets were in “bad taste” and “crossed the line between humor and contempt.”