Third summons for Kunal Kamra, audience members also roped in

Mumbai Police has issued a third summons to stand-up comedian and activist Kunal Kamra, asking him to appear on 5 April in a case registered against him for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, officials said.

The summons was issued on Tuesday and Kamra (36) was asked to appear at Khar police station, where an FIR (first information report) was registered against him last month, they said.

Alongside, notices have also begun to be served to members of the audience who attended the show in Mumbai during which Kamra made the remarks, as per media reports. It is, of course, not known if the millions who watched the video recording of the show titled Naya Bharat on YouTube will also be summoned.

Kamra had been summoned twice by the police earlier but failed to join the investigation, the officials said.

The case stems from a parody song performed by Kamra at the show in Mumbai which appeared to target Shinde — who heads the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) following his rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray — and call him a traitor (gaddar). The song, though, did not name Shinde.

Angry Shiv Sena activists last month vandalised the studio where the show had been recorded. Additionally, various Shiv Sena (Shinde) leaders and ministers in Maharashtra's BJP-led government have made open threats to harm Kamra — who currently lives in Tamil Nadu — should he ever return to Mumbai.

Khar police registered an FIR against Kamra on a complaint by a Sena MLA under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to defamation and public mischief.

On Monday, a Khar police team visited Kamra's house in Mumbai's Mahim area, where his family lives, to find out whether he would appear before the police, officials said.

On 28 March, the Madras High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to the comedian. Justice Sunder Mohan also issued a notice to Khar police, and posted the matter to 7 April for further hearing.

Kamra, a long-time critic of the BJP-led Union government, has so far refused to apologise for his apparent jibes at Shinde as demanded by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, stating that he had merely repeated what was already being said about Shinde in the public domain.

With PTI inputs