Comedian Kunal Kamra, who is facing criminal contempt proceedings for his tweets on the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sharad A Bobde, filed an affidavit in the apex court on Friday stating that his tweets were not published with an intention of diminishing the faith of the people in the judiciary and that through his work, he “attempts to abide by comedy's tenet of comforting the afflicted, and afflicting the comfortable.”
“My tweets were not published with the intention of diminishing the faith of the people in the highest court of our democracy. It is funny though, how little faith the Petitioner appears to have in the people of this country. The suggestion that my tweets could shake the foundations of the most powerful court in the world is an over-estimation of my abilities. Just as the Supreme Court values the faith the public places in it and seeks to protect it by the exercise of its criminal contempt jurisdiction), it should also trust the public not to form its opinions of the Court on the basis of a few jokes on Twitter,” Kamra said in his six-page affidavit, adding, “The public's faith in the judiciary is founded on the institution's own actions, and not on any criticism or commentary about it.”
Kamra added that the language and style he uses are not with the intention to insult but to “draw attention to and prompt an engagement with issues that I believe are relevant to our democracy and which have also been raised in the public domain by more serious and learned commentators.”
Citing comedian Munawar Faruqui’s case, where the comedian has been in jail for days for a joke that he had not cracked yet, Kamra said taking offense has become the new “national indoor sport” for India.
“I believe that there is a growing culture of intolerance in this country, where taking offense is seen as a fundamental right and has been elevated to the status of a much loved national indoor sport. We are witnessing an assault on the freedom of speech and expression, with comedians like Munawar Farooqi being jailed for jokes that they have not even made, and school students being interrogated for sedition,” Kamra said.
“At such a time, I hope that this Court will demonstrate that the freedom of speech and expression is a cardinal constitutional value and recognise that the possibility of being offended is a necessary incident to the exercise of this right. Should powerful people and institutions continue to show an inability to tolerate rebuke or criticism, we would be reduced to a country of incarcerated artists and flourishing lapdogs. If this Court believes I have crossed a line and wants to shut down my internet indefinitely, then I too will write Happy Independence Day postcards every 15th August just like my Kashmiri friends,” Kamra said in the affidavit.
He maintained in his affidavit that he will not apologise for the tweets, but he will respect any decision that comes his way “with a broad smile.”
“I will not vilify this Bench or the Supreme Court in this matter specifically because that would actually be contempt of court,” Kamra said.
Kamra’s affidavit comes in response to the Supreme Court’s notice seeking a reply from him in connection with the plea seeking criminal contempt proceedings over his tweets against the Supreme Court and the judiciary.
Attorney General KK Venugopal had last year granted his consent for the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Kamra, saying his tweets about the Supreme Court are in bad taste and that “it is time that people understand that attacking the apex court brazenly will attract punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1972.”
Kamra and comic artist Sanitary Panels are both facing contempt proceedings for their tweets against the judiciary. Hearing the matter on Friday, the Supreme Court granted two weeks for the complainant to respond to the affidavit filed by Kamra. Sanitary Panels's case will be taken up three weeks later, so that it does not clash with Kamra's.