Pornography case: SC grants pre-arrest bail to Raj Kundra, Poonam Pandey, Sherlyn Chopra

Pic Courtesy: Instagram

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Bollywood actors Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey, and businessman Raj Kundra and others, in connection with a case against them for allegedly distributing pornographic videos.

A bench comprising Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna said, "Having heard the counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the petitioners may be granted anticipatory bail..."

Senior advocate R. Basant, representing one of the petitioners, contended before the bench that a charge sheet has been filed in the case. Basant emphasized that the accused were cooperating with the police in the investigation.

The bench also directed Kundra and other accused in the matter to cooperate with the police in the investigation. Earlier, Kundra had got interim protection from arrest from the apex court. The case also named Chopra and Pandey as co-accused.

Kundra claimed that he was not connected to the content creation, publication or transmission of alleged illegal videos. He was arrested by the Mumbai Police in July 2021 in another case where he was accused of distributing porn films through an app. In September 2021, Kundra was granted bail.

The cyber cell of the Mumbai Police filed a case against Kundra under sections of the Indian Penal Code, Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act, and Information Technology Act for allegedly distributing sexually explicit videos.