CJI Chandrachud was heading the bench which granted bail to Goswami, which led to his recusal from the matter on Thursday.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud Thursday recused from hearing the contempt of court case against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra [Shrirang Katneshwarkar vs Kunal Kamra], reported Bar and bench.
Four contempt petitions are pending Kamra for his remarks against the top court and its judges. One of the cases is for his tweets criticizing the Supreme Court after an order was passed by the Court in November 2020 granting bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami.
CJI Chandrachud was heading the bench which granted bail to Goswami, which led to his recusal from the matter on Thursday.
On November 12, 2021, then-Attorney General KK Venugopal granted permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kamra based on complaints from various law students and lawyers.
According to the Contempt of Courts Act, of 1971, a private individual can file a contempt of court petition in Supreme Court only after obtaining the consent of the Attorney General or the Solicitor General. Similar consent has to be obtained from the concerned Advocate General of the State when filing a contempt petition before a High Court.
Subsequently, another petition came to be filed against Kamra seeking action against Kamra based on another tweet in which he was seen holding up his fingers while in an aircraft with the text:“One of these 2 fingers is for CJI Arvind Bobde…ok let me not confuse you it’s the middle one.” Reported Bar and bench.
A third contempt of court petition came to be filed against the statement made by Kamra that the apex court is a “Brahmin-Baniya’ affair.
The statements were made in his stand-up special on YouTube, Be Like. Kamra has been tangled in several legal matters in recent times, from being put on the no-fly list for heckling Goswami on a plane, to facing criminal contempt multiple times over his social media posts and comments.
Notably, in the present contempt of court case, Kamra had stated on affidavit that the top court’s majesty is not lowered by comedians like him; instead, the public’s faith in the judiciary is founded on the institution’s own actions and not on any criticism or commentary about it.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
