Comedian Sunil Pal Records Statement With Police Over Remarks On Doctors

Stand-up comedian and actor Sunil Pal recorded his statement at a Mumbai police station on Thursday in connection with his alleged defamatory remarks against doctors engaged in COVID-19 management, an official said.

The Andheri police in suburban Mumbai earlier this month had registered an FIR against Mr Pal and summoned him for questioning.

On Thursday, Sunil Pal reached the police station and recorded his statement, the police official said. The comedian said he came to the police station despite not being well as he respects the law.

The FIR against Mr Pal was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for "statements conducing mischief" and "punishment for defamation" on the basis of a complaint filed by Dr Sushmita Bhatnagar, head of the Association of Medical Consultants.

According to the complaint, Mr Pal made the alleged derogatory comments against doctors during a show on an entertainment channel.

In her statement to the police, Dr Bhatnagar said that last month she came across a video on social media in which Mr Pal was seen making derogatory remarks against doctors. Dr Bhatnagar also accused Mr Pal of making derogatory comments against front-line health workers.

Sunil Pal, in the video concerned, was heard saying, "Doctors are a form of God, but 90 per cent of the doctors have taken an evil form, and are fraud. Poor people are being scared in the name of COVID all day, they are humiliated and harassed by saying there are no beds, no plasma, no medicine, no this, no that."