A Mumbai court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to businessman Raj Kundra and his aide Ryan Thorpe in a case related to making pornographic video clips and sharing them through mobile apps, reported Live Law.
Kundra, the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, was arrested on July 19 for allegedly being the “key conspirator” in the case.
Kundra allegedly owned a video streaming app that created pornographic content. The police also alleged that women were coerced into making pornographic clips with promises of acting roles.
A metropolitan magistrate had on July 23 remanded Kundra to police custody till July 27. After the period of police custody expired on Tuesday, he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court had granted anticipatory bail to actors Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra and said that no coercive action should be taken against them till September 20, reported DNA.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for Kundra, argued that all the other accused in the case have been granted bail, reported Bar and Bench. The advocate said that the businessman has been in custody for a long period and that he has been cooperating with the investigation.
Ponda assured the court that Kundra will continue to cooperate in the investigation if bail is granted. “The question is not whether he is innocent or not, it is whether he can be released on bail or not,” he argued.
Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution submitted before the court that the investigation was still underway and there was a possibility of Kundra tampering with evidence if granted bail.
“..Needy women were being forced into this crime, while the accused were rich and influential people,” the prosecution argued. The counsel contended that there were more victims whose statements were yet to be recorded.
The prosecution also said that Kundra was a British national and claimed he could flee to the United Kingdom.
To this, Ponda argued that the judge can impose security conditions such as confiscating Kundra’s passport and seeking the court’s permission before leaving the country. He said that the businessman’s passport was already with the Crime Branch.
Ponda added that the police are yet to show a single incident in which Kundra had asked or threatened people to not give statements to the police.
The case against Kundra
The Mumbai police have booked Kundra under Sections 354(C) (voyeurism), 292 (sale of obscene content) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. The first information report also invoked sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, which deal with the transmission of sexually explicit material.
Kundra had allegedly sold the app to his relative, Pradeep Bakshi, who lives in the United Kingdom.
Last week, the businessman had also moved the Bombay High Court challenging the order remanding him to police custody. Kundra has argued in the petition that his arrest was illegal as he was not given a notice to appear before the police first. He has also contended that the videos mentioned in the case were not pornographic, as they did not explicitly show sexual acts.
The High Court on Tuesday declined any interim relief to Kundra, News18 reported. However, it directed the investigating officer to remain present in court on the next hearing, which is slated for 2.30 pm on Thursday.
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