Though, the bench – headed by Justice Chandrachud – passed the order granting interim bail to senior journalist Arnab Goswami.
Taking up the petitions, the CJI-led bench said, "We will place this matter before a bench to which I (CJI) am not a part of because the comments (tweets) were made on the order, which I have passed."
ALSO READ: SC stays U'khand HC's decision on eviction order in Haldwani, says '50,000 people can't be...'
Following this, the bench listed the matter after two weeks and the CJI will now assign the case to another bench.
Kamra's tweet against SC's order:
Earlier on 11 November, 2020, Kamra began tweeting when the Supreme Court was hearing an appeal of Goswami against the Bombay High Court's order rejecting the journalist's plea for interim bail in a 2018 abetment-to-suicide case.
In his affidavit on 29 January, 2021, Kamra defended his tweets against judiciary, saying India would be reduced to a “country of incarcerated artists and flourishing lapdogs" if powerful people and institutions show inability to “tolerate rebuke or criticism".
He also added that there was a growing culture of intolerance.
"We are witnessing an assault on the freedom of speech and expression, with comedians like Munawar Farooqi being jailed for jokes that they have not made, and school students being interrogated for sedition. At such a time, I hope that this court will demonstrate that the freedom of speech and expression is of cardinal constitutional value, and recognise that the possibility of being offended is a necessary incident to the exercise of this right," Kamra said.
Stating that "irreverence and hyperbole" are essential tools for the comedic enterprise, Kamra had said that comic raises questions on issues of public interest in his own unique way.
"We would be reduced to a country of incarcerated artists and flourishing lapdogs if powerful people and institutions continue to show an inability to tolerate rebuke or criticism," he had said.
Show-cause notice to Kamra:
The apex court on 18 December, 2020, issued a show-cause notice to Kamra for his tweets against the apex court and exempted him from personal appearances.
Though the then ttorney General KK Venugopal had granted consent for initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Kamra. Venugopal cited Kamra's tweets were in "bad taste" and it was time that people understood that attacking the apex court brazenly would attract punishment, reported Hindustan Times.
As per details, the criminal contempt of the Supreme Court is punishable with a fine of up to ₹2,000 and imprisonment of up to six months.
With agency inputs.
