Traitor jibe case: Kamra skips third summons; BookMyShow removes him from the platform

Mumbai: Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra failed to appear before the Mumbai police on Saturday in connection with a case registered against him for allegedly passing a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, an official said. This is the third time Kamra has given police summons a miss, the official said. The Khar police booked Kamra on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for allegedly making defamatory remarks against the deputy chief minister during a show.

Kamra shot a video lampooning Shinde over the split in the Shiv Sena, and party workers later ransacked the studio and the hotel in which it is located on the night of March 23. The official said the Mumbai police asked Kamra to appear before it on April 5, issuing summons to him for the third time. Earlier this week, a team from the Khar police visited his residence in Mahim after he skipped the second summons. The Madras High Court has granted interim anticipatory bail to Kamra till April 7. He is a permanent resident of Tamil Nadu. Three FIRs registered against the comedian at Nashik Rural, Jalgaon and Nashik (Nandgaon) have been transferred to Khar police station.

In a major blow to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, online ticketing platform BookMyShow on Saturday removed all content related to him and also removed him from the list of artists listed on its portal. Following this move, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena thanked Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd (which owns online ticketing portal BookMyShow) for removing the content. The move comes after Shiv Sena youth leader and social media chief, Rahool N Kanal, wrote to BookMyShow, requesting the company not to provide a platform to Kamra. Rahool Kanal on April 2 had urged the Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd to refrain from providing a platform to the stand-up comedian.

Kanal remarked that continuing to facilitate ticket sales for his events could be perceived as an endorsement of his ‘divisive’ rhetoric which may have serious repercussions for public sentiment and order in Mumbai. Kanal in his letter addressed to Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd on Saturday said, “I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the continued support of your team to take the said artist out of your sale and promotion listing. I thank you for even taking him out of the BookMyShow search history.” “Thank you for keeping your portal clean and keeping such artists out of the list of pure entertainment, because we all being Mumbaikars love and believe in every form of art but not personal agendas,” said Kanal. He further added, “We deeply value your commitment to BookMyShow’s values that align with the support, customer experience.” Kanal in his April 2 letter had said that BookMyShow has previously facilitated ticket sales for shows featuring Kunal Kamra. “Kamra has been observed to engage in a sustained campaign of vilification and defamation, targeting the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, and other public figures. These actions appear to be part of a broader criminal conspiracy, driven by ulterior motives that extend far beyond the realm of humour or satire,” he claimed. He further stated that Kamra’s premeditated, scripted, provocative, and malicious statements have consistently crossed ethical and legal boundaries. Such remarks not only hurt the sentiments of the public at large but also have the potential to incite public mischief and disrupt social harmony. “By providing a platform for his performances, BookMyShow inadvertently lends credibility and reach to an individual whose actions threaten public order, particularly in a vibrant and diverse city like Mumbai, where your company is headquartered,” he wrote.

Kanal had sent the letter amid a raging controversy over Kamra alluding to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as a traitor in a song. Three cases have been filed against Kamra, though the Madras High Court has granted him temporary protection from arrest. Police are currently recording statements from the cameraperson and other staff present during the show’s filming. They have also assured Kamra’s safety when he appears for questioning. However, Kamra has yet to appear before the Mumbai Police to record his statement despite three summons served on him.