Mumbai Police have now called in the audience from Kunal Kamra's "Naya Bharat" performance at the Habitat Studio at the Unicontinental Hotel in Mumbai to question them. When Kunal Kamra allegedly insulted Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the crowd was there. Users of social media have also attacked ticketing websites for disseminating details about Kamra's performance. Outrage sprang out on social media after a number of ticket booking websites were criticised for giving Mumbai Police audience information and for requiring phone numbers and email addresses in order to purchase tickets.
As part of their inquiry into comedian Kunal Kamra's alleged remarks regarding Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Mumbai Police have started recording interviews from those who attended his show, Naya Bharat, at Habitat Studio on February 2. Audience members received notices that comply with Section 179 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which gives police the authority to call witnesses for interrogation.
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YP Singh, a former IPS officer and attorney, told the Times of India that although the Mumbai police have the right to call one or two witnesses to provide witness statements, this is not required because there is already technological evidence, including video recordings. He added that as the performance fell within the parameters of free speech, the situation is not very serious.
In a satirical piece titled "How to Kill an Artist Democratically," published on April 1, Kunal Kamra criticised what he called organised attempts to stifle artists who disagreed with him. Kunal Kamra provided a detailed 'playbook' for stifling artistic expression during the backlash over his caricature of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Kamra cited strategies include stifling private performances, threatening venues, and using staged anger to dissuade brands, all of which lead to the transformation of art into a crime scene by calling spectators in for interrogation. Such attempts, Kamra claimed, leave artists with little other option than to compromise their integrity or fade into silence, calling this tactic a "silencing machine."
Kunal Kamra is currently the subject of numerous police summonses and complaints, along with accusations of public mischief and defamation. The Madras High Court has granted anticipatory bail to Kunal Kamra, a resident of Villupuram town in Tamil Nadu, through April 7.