Comedian Kunal Kamra’s lawyer on Wednesday argued before the Bombay High Court that even 75 years after the Constitution came into existence, law enforcement authorities still seemed to be either ignorant of fundamental rights or did not care about them, Bar and Bench reported.

Kamra’s counsel Navroz Seervai made the statement while seeking the quashing of a case against the comedian for his satirical remarks ostensibly about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the matter.

Seervai argued that the case against Kamra fell under the “rarest of rare” category, as the legal machinery had been used by individuals who objected to him exercising his right to free speech, the Hindustan Times reported. The counsel sought a stay on the investigation, saying that the Supreme Court had always struck down illegal attempts at censorship.

Kamra questioned why the Mumbai Police issued three summonses to him seeking his physical presence even though he had been getting death threats. He also asked why the police called for the interrogation of both the attendees of the show during which he made the remarks and those who produced it.

“This shows that even after 75 years of the existence of Constitution...Law enforcement machinery is ignorant of the fundamental right or does not care about the fundamental right,” Seervai told the court, according to Bar and Bench.

On the other hand, public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, representing the state government, said that targeting one individual was not “humorous criticism” but was malicious in nature. He said that Kamra, having been a stand-up comedian for many years, could not have been oblivious to the consequences of his words, the Hindustan Times reported.

“He cannot use derogatory words and call it humour,” Venegaonkar said. “Public figures have rights too. The FIR clearly demonstrates that the statement sought to lower the person’s dignity in the society.”

Referring to the alleged death threats against Kamra, the public prosecutor told the court that he would be protected when he would travel to Mumbai in response to the summons.

The case

On March 23, Kamra posted a video on his YouTube channel in which he ostensibly criticised Shinde while performing a satirical version of a song from a Hindi film.

The comedian alluded to Shinde as a “traitor” while referring to his 2022 rebellion against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the ensuing political crisis in Maharashtra. He, however, did not mention Shinde by name.

After clips of the performance were widely shared on social media, members of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena on the night of March 23 vandalised The Habitat studio in Mumbai’s Khar area, where it was recorded.

The next day, the Mumbai Police filed a case against Kamra under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to defamation and public mischief. The police also arrested 12 members of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena for the vandalisation of The Habitat studio. They, however, got bail on March 24.

Also read: How the attacks on Kunal Kamra undermine the freedoms of all Indians