Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra has refused to retract his controversial tweets against the Supreme Court or apologise for them, reported PTI. 

Kamra’s statements come after Attorney General K K Venugopal had given consent to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against him for a series of tweets following the apex court giving interim bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.

Also read: Attorney General grants consent for contempt proceedings against Kunal Kamra

In a statement addressed to Venugopal and the judges on his Twitter page, Kamra said, “The tweets I recently put out have been found in contempt of court. All that I tweeted was from my view of the Supreme Court of India giving a partial decision in favour of a Prime Time Loudspeaker.”

He added, “My view hasn’t changed because the silence of the Supreme Court of India on matters of other’s personal liberty cannot go uncriticized. I don’t intend to retract my tweets or apologise for them. I believe they speak for themselves.”

Kamra was earlier banned by several airlines after he heckled Goswami on an IndiGo flight. Kamra said he enjoys a platform with a captive audience but a time slot before the Supreme Court is a scarce commodity and should go to more pressing issues in front of the nation.

Also read: Arnab Goswami walks out of Taloja jail after SC grants interim bail

He referred to contempt proceedings against lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who had refused to apologise for his derogatory tweets and was held guilty of contempt earlier this year. He said, “I wish to volunteer having the time that would be allotted to the hearing of my contempt petition (20 hours at the very least, if Prashant Bhushan’s hearing is anything to go by), to other matters and parties who have not been as lucky and privileged as I am to jump the queue.”

He then went on to list the important petitions pending in front of the court, listing the pleas on demonetisation, the challenge to the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the matter of the legality of electoral bonds and “countless other matters that are more deserving of time and attention”.

He said, “The Supreme Court of India hasn’t yet declared my tweets anything as of now but if and when they do I hope they can have a small laugh before declaring them Contempt of Court.”