Comedian Kunal Kamra is again facing contempt proceedings for another tweet in which he had posted a picture of the Supreme Court with the tricolour atop the court’s building was replaced with the BJP’s flag.
Lawyer Saurabh Tiwari, filed a criminal revision plea against Kunal Kamra, for tweeting the picture which insulted the Indian Flag. The revision plea was heard and after hearing both the sides Additional District Judge/Fast Track Court-2, Varanasi Aradhana Kushwaha, rejected the plea and upheld the court’s order.
In December 2020, the court of judicial magistrate, dismissed the lawyer’s complaint as the offence was not committed within its local jurisdiction. The magistrate said:
“After taking into consideration of the whole facts and circumstances of the case this Court is of the view that alleged offence does not appear to have been committed within the jurisdiction of this court. In such circumstances above application U/s 156(3) Cr.P.C. deserves to be dismissed.”
Additional District Judge Kushwaha noted that the judicial magistrate’s decision was in “conformity with jurisdictional principles of law and was proper in view of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the IT Act.”
She also said that since a contempt plea has already been filed before the Supreme Court, pursuant to the consent granted by the attorney general for India K.K. Venugopal, it would “serve no purpose for conducting a trial in the district court against him”.
"If Tiwari wishes to become a party in the contempt proceedings in the apex court, he can present an application before the Supreme Court", Kushwaha said, and dismissed the criminal revision plea.
The court further asked lawyer Saurabh Tiwari to file an application before in the Supreme Court regarding the matter filed earlier, if he wishes to be party in the contempt proceedings.
