CJI DY Chandrachud recuses from hearing contempt of court case against Kunal Kamra

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud Thursday recused from hearing the contempt of court case against stand up comedian Kunal Kamra [Shrirang Katneshwarkar vs Kunal Kamra]..Four contempt petitions are pending against Kamra before the apex court for his remarks against the top court and its judges.One of the case is for his tweets criticising the Supreme Court and CJI Chandrachud after an order was passed by the Court in November 2020 granting bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami.CJI Chandrachud was heading the bench which granted bail to Goswami, which led to his recusal from the matter on Thursday.Two of his tweets said:- (CJI) DY Chandrachud is a flight attendant serving champagne to first class passengers after they’re fast tracked through, while commoners don’t know if they’ll ever be boarded or seated, let alone served.- All lawyers with a spine must stop the use of the prefix “Hon’ble” while referring to the Supreme Court or its judges. Honour has left the building long back..."On November 12, 2020, then Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal had granted consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kamra based on complaints from various law students and lawyers.The AG had received a total 10 letters seeking permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kamra including letters by law student Skand Bajpai and advocates Shrirang Katneshwarkar and Abhishek Raskar.According to the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, a private individual can file a contempt of court petition in Supreme Court only after obtaining the consent of the Attorney General or the Solicitor General. Similar consent has to be obtained from the concerned Advocate General of the State when filing a contempt petition before a High Court.Subsequently, another petition came to be filed against Kamra seeking action against Kamra based on another tweet in which he was seen holding up his fingers while in an aircraft with the text:"One of these 2 fingers is for (then) CJI Arvind Bobde...ok let me not confuse you it’s the middle one."A third contempt of court petition came to be filed against the statement made by Kamra that the apex court is a "Brahmin-Baniya' affair.The statements were made in his stand-up special on YouTube, Be Like.Kamra has been tangled in several legal matters in recent times, from being put in the no-fly list for heckling Goswami on a plane, to facing criminal contempt multiple times over his social media posts and comments.Notably, in the present contempt of court case, Kamra had stated on affidavit that the top court's majesty is not lowered by comedians like him; instead public's faith in the judiciary is founded on the institution's own actions and not on any criticism or commentary about it..Who are the petitioners seeking contempt of court action against Kunal Kamra?.[Read order]