In a 37-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Harish Salve, a former Solicitor General, spoke at length about the Law of Contempt with specific reference to two cases the Supreme Court is hearing – that of the comedian Kunal Kamra and that of the cartoonist Rachita Taneja. In both cases, Harish Salve had no doubt that the content was contemptuous but forcefully argued that action should not be taken against either person and judges should simply “take it on the chin and move on”.
Speaking to The Wire about Kunal Kamra’s two tweets (“Honour has left the building (Supreme Court) long back” and “The Supreme Court of this country is the most supreme joke of this country”), Harish Salve said these tweets “are clearly contemptuous”. As he explained, when Kamra says honour has left the building he is criticising the edifice of the Supreme Court and questioning its independence.