Raj Kundra, Ryan Thorpe's petition dismissed in pornography case

Responding to the writ petition filed by Kundra, public prosecutor stated that he is a British citizen and destroying the evidence in the case against him.

New Delhi: The Bombay High Court on Saturday (August 7, 2021) dismissed the bail plea of businessman Raj Kundra and associate Ryan Thorpe in the pornography case. Kundra had filed a writ petition in the court calling his arrest 'illegal'. The court reserved its verdict upon hearing both the concerned parties.

Responding to the writ petition filed by Kundra, the public prosecutor stated that he is a British citizen and destroying the evidence in the case against him and there is a possibility of him doing the same in future.

The investigating agencies have recovered 51 adult movies from the Storage Area Network (SAN) and 68 adult films from his laptops. Therefore, Raj Kundra's arrest is not only valid but also very important in this case, argued the prosecutor. 

A single bench presided over by Justice A S Gadkari rejected their applications, saying that the duo's remand by a magistrate to police custody and the subsequent judicial custody was within the conformity of law and did not require interference.

In their petitions, Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, and Thorpe had termed their arrest as illegal as the mandatory provision of issuing notice under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not followed.

The duo, in their plea, sought the high court to order for their immediate release and quash two orders passed by a magistrate after their arrest remanding them in police custody.

Raj Kundra, the husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, was arrested by the crime branch on July 19 in a case related to the alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through apps.

Meanwhile, the Police on Friday recorded the statement of actor-model Sherlyn Chopra for nearly eight hours in connection with the porn films case in which businessman Raj Kundra has been arrested, an official told PTI.

Chopra appeared before the property cell of the Mumbai crime branch at around 12 pm to record her statement and left at around 8 pm, the official said.

Earlier this week, the police had quizzed the director of Armsprime, a company linked to the alleged porn racket. Last week, a court had rejected the pre-arrest bail application filed by Chopra.

In her plea, Chopra has said she apprehended arrest in the case registered under IPC sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material), as well as relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

The crime branch is investigating the case that was registered at the Malwani police station in suburban Mumbai in February 2021.

(With PTI inputs)