The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to businessman Raj Kundra and actors Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey in a 2020 case related to broadcasting sexually explicit content on an over-the-top platform, PTI reported.
Kundra is accused of owning a mobile application that streamed and distributed the content.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna directed the accused to cooperate in the investigation.
“Having heard the counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the petitioners may be granted anticipatory bail,” the bench said, according to PTI.
In December 2021, the Supreme Court had granted Kundra anticipatory bail in the case for four weeks.
The businessman has been charged under Sections 292 and 293 (sale of obscene material) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 66E, 67 and 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) of the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
The first information report filed in the case names Chopra and Pandey as his co-accused.
Kundra, who is married to actor Shilpa Shetty, had first sought anticipatory bail from a sessions court. When it refused to grant the relief, he had approached the Bombay High Court claiming he was framed in the case.
However, the Bombay High Court on November 25, 2021, dismissed his plea for anticipatory bail, following which he moved the Supreme Court.
Kundra, in his petition, had said that the videos did not show any physical or sexual activity. He had also denied his involvement in making or broadcasting the videos.
In July 2021, Kundra was arrested in another case for allegedly streaming and distributing sexually explicit content. He was granted bail by a Mumbai court two months later.
The police have alleged that Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe took advantage of young women from poor families and coerced them to appear in sexually explicit videos. The women said they were cheated as they were given nominal compensations, or sometimes not paid at all.
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