Kunal Kamra Moves Madras HC Seeking Transit Anticipatory Bail After Row Over Eknath Shinde Joke

Comedian Kunal Kamra has moved the Madras High Court seeking a transit anticipatory bail, days after his remarks targeting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in his stand-up show kicked up a huge controversy.

According to the details, lawyers representing the comedian made an urgent mention before the principal bench of the Madras High Court. The case is likely to be heard during the court’s afternoon session on Friday.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the stand-up comedian after he allegedly made derogatory remarks against Shinde. Kamra was booked under Section 356(2) (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on a complaint lodged by a Shiv Sena functionary at Dombivli Police Station.

The complaint stated that the Sena functionary came across the defamatory video clip against Shinde after opening an online link. Kamra had kicked up a row with his “traitor” jibe at Shinde, an apparent reference to the 2022 Shiv Sena split, during his show recorded at a studio in the basement of a hotel in Mumbai.

The remarks and parody song invited violent reaction from Shiv Sena workers who vandalised the studio. Separately, police registered a case against 40 Shiv Sena workers for the action and arrested 12 of them.

A local court granted them bail the same day.

On March 26, Kamra slammed Bollywood studio T-Series, alleging that his stand-up special ‘Naya Bharat’, which has kicked up a huge controversy over jokes targeting Shinde, was flagged for copyright violations on YouTube.