Madras High Court grants interim anticipatory bail to comedian Kunal Kamra

The Madras High Court on Friday granted interim anticipatory bail to comedian Kunal Kamra, who is facing the heat over his jokes on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The court granted Kamra the relief on the condition that he should execute a bond to the satisfaction of the judicial magistrate at Vanur in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.

Justice Sunder Mohan also issued notice to 2nd Respondent (Khar Police) and posted the matter for April 7.

Kamra had submitted that he moved to Tamil Nadu from Mumbai in 2021 and had been "ordinarily a resident of this state since then" and that he feared arrest by the Mumbai police.

Twice summoned by the Mumbai police, the 36-year-old stand-up comic's caustic comments on Shinde during his latest show in Mumbai have landed him in trouble and triggered a huge row.

The controversy stems from Kamra's show at the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai's Khar, where he performed a parody song targeting Shinde. The act prompted a strong backlash from Shiv Sena supporters, who on Sunday night vandalised the club and the hotel in which it is located.

Kamra was booked by the Khar police on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for allegedly making defamatory remarks against the deputy CM.