Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra (36), who was born in Mumbai but shifted his residence to Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu in 2021, has told Madras High Court on Friday (March 28, 2025) that he had not named anyone, much less Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in his latest show titled ‘Naya Bharat’ and yet was receiving death threats.
He made the submission in a plea to grant him inter-State anticipatory bail until he could approach the Bombay High Court and obtain regular anticipatory bail in a case booked against him at the Khar police station in Mumbai following a complaint lodged by Andheri East MLA Murji Kazi Patel.
Justice Sunder Mohan is expected to take up his plea for hearing by the end of the day. In his petition, Mr. Kamra said, he had moved out of Mumbai and settled down in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu because he was desirous of leading a quiet life in a rural area. He claimed to be a resident of Tamil Nadu since February 2021.
He is a popular comedian who travels frequently for performing his shows in different venues and shares videos of those shows on his social media handles. His latest show titled ‘Naya Bharat’ was performed in Mumbai in February this year and the video was uploaded on his YouTube channel on February 23.
A month later, a group claiming to be political activists vandalised the venue where the show was performed at Khar in Mumbai. On the same day (March 23, 2025), the MLA lodged a police complaint accusing the petitioner of having defamed Mr. Shinde by making slanderous comments about the latter’s conduct.
“It is pertinent to mention here that the disputed songs/poem narrated by the petitioner does not name anyone, leave alone the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra,” yet the police promptly registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the comedian and summoned him for inquiry on March 23, 2025.
The summons were served upon the petitioner’s parents in Mumbai. On coming to know about it, the petitioner made a request to the Khar police to permit him to appear for inquiry through video conferencing and also sought two weeks time to appear before the investigating officer concerned.
In response, the police intimated him that he could appear on March 30 but there was no clarification as to whether he could appear through video call. In the meantime, the petitioner complained to have received a barrage of death threats from politicians as well as through anonymous phone calls.
Listing out the threats he had received, the petitioner feared people might cause harm to either to him or his loved ones. He also feared the Mumbai police might arrest him and subject him to physical torture if he had to wait until the Bombay High Court grants him anticipatory bail.
Further, highlighting that the Bombay High Court would be on leave for a considerable number of days in the first three weeks of April, the petitioner urged the Madras High Court to grant him inter-State anticipatory bail until he could obtain regular anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court.
Published – March 28, 2025 04:32 pm IST