AG gives consent for contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra

Attorney General of India KK Venugopal on Friday granted consent to lawyer Anuj Singh to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt against comedian Kunal Kamra for his objectionable tweet against the Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde.

Advocate Anuj Singh, a practicing lawyer at the Allahabad high court, had made a request to the Attorney General Venugopal on November 19 for consent to initiate legal proceedings against Kamra for his tweet against CJI Bobde under section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

"I have gone through your request for consent under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 against Kunal Kamra in respect of the tweet dated November 18, 2020 at 9.46 pm," Venugopal wrote in a letter to Singh.

Venugopal further wrote: "The depiction of the two fingers, with the legend that he means the middle one, is to deliberately insult the Chief Justice of India which would equally be an insult to the Supreme Court of India itself, which the Chief Justice heads."

"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 has in the institution of the Supreme Court of India itself," he added.

Kamra had posted an objectionable tweet addressed at CJI Bobde on November 18.