The Mumbai Police has served notices to audience members who attended a stand-up comedy show by comedian in which he had ostensibly criticised Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, The Times of India reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper quoted Indian Police Service officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh as saying that summoning members of the audience was not mandatory in this case as electronic evidence is available.

On March 23, Kamra posted a video on his YouTube channel in which he Shinde while performing a satirical version of a song from a Hindi film.

The comedian alluded to Shinde as a “” while referring to his 2022 rebellion against former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the ensuing political crisis in Maharashtra. He, however, did not mention Shinde by name.

After clips of the performance were widely shared on social media, members of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena on the night of March 23 The Habitat studio in Mumbai’s Khar area, where it was recorded.

The next day, the Mumbai Police filed a case against Kamra under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to . The police also sent the comedian two summonses, asking him to appear for questioning before March 31.

Kamra sought seven days to travel to Mumbai, but the police had...