Mumbai's Esplanade Court rejects bail plea of Raj Kundra in pornography case

14:24 July 28

Mumbai: Mumbai's Esplanade Court on Wednesday has rejected the bail pleas of Raj Kundra and Ryan Thorpe in the pornography case. Kundra, the husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, was arrested July 19 by the city police's crime branch after being booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. On Tuesday, a magistrate's court remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

Kundra had filed a bail plea, but the court rejected it on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court had also refused to give him any urgent temporary relief. The police claimed that during the probe into the case, it was found Kundra set up Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd, which, through London-based Kenrin Pvt Ltd, bought Hotshots app to upload objectional videos on social media.

They had also alleged that Kundra earned over Rs 1.17 crore between August and December last year by uploading pornographic content online, through Hotshots. The police also claimed to have found 51 obscene videos- 35 with Hotshots logo and 16 with BollyFame logo, during searches at the office of the accused. 

The Bombay High Court's decision on Tuesday, which said that it cannot pass any order granting urgent relief to businessman Raj Kundra. Rak Kundra was arrested in a case of alleged production and distribution of pornographic films through the Hot Shots app. Justice A S Gadkari directed the police to file its affidavit by July 29 in response to a petition filed by Raj Kundra challenging his arrest in the case. He also refused to grant interim relief without hearing the public prosecutor.