Mumbai, April 7: Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra has approached the Bombay High Court, seeking to quash an FIR lodged against him by the city police for allegedly passing a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Kamra moved the high court on April 5.

His plea has claimed the complaints against him were violative of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, right to practice any profession and business and right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India. The plea, filed through advocate Meenaz Kakalia, is likely to come up for hearing before a bench headed by Justice Sarang Kotwal on April 21. BookMyShow Removes All of Stand-Up Comedian Kunal Kamra’s Content, Delists Him; Eknath Shinde-Led Shiv Sena Thanks Platform.

Kamra last month got interim transit anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court in the case against him. He is a permanent resident of Tamil Nadu. The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summons issued to him. During a show, Kamra had taunted Shinde, without taking his name, using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film "Dil To Pagal Hai" where he called him a "gaddar" (traitor). Kunal Kamra-Eknath Shinde Row: Stand-Up Comedian Issued 3rd Summons by Mumbai’s Khar Police, Asked To Appear for Questioning Today.

The comedian went on to joke about how Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray. Following a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel, the police here registered the FIR against Kamra under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation).

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)