Mumbai Court extends Raj Kundra's remand to police custody till July 27 in porn film case

A Mumbai Court on Friday extended police custody of businessman and husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra to police custody till July 27, 2021 in relation to a pornographic film racket case.

Kundra was booked under Sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material) under the Indian Penal Code, Sections 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) under the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

He was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Monday and produced before Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade who remanded him to police custody till July 23, 2021.

The prosecution sought an extension of 7 days but the Magistrate granted custody till July 27, 2021.

The prosecution argued that even though the remand was of a few days, the police had managed to make considerable progress in the case and with more days, it would probe deeper into financial transactions.

They submitted that when the Google and Apple store sent notices to Kundra stating "our team has received your content and it violates our sexual nudity policy" Kundra removed one Hotshot app from the stores.

However, he then allegedly started a new app Polyfilms which was his alternate plan and which had the same adult content.

Prosecution alleged that even though Kundra claimed to have "quit", the investigating officers came across information about the expenses of the company worth approximately 4000-10000 pounds.

Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for Kundra, reiterated his arguments that custody was being sought in offences which were majorly bailable except for two non-bailable offences.

He argued that non-bailable offences alleged were Section 67A of the Information Technology Act and Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code provided for explicit sexual act which was not found in the evidence against Kundra.

He reiterated that if the police had issued summons to Kundra, he would have co-operated.

After hearing both parties at length, the CMM at Esplanade remanded Kundra to police custody.

Ponda, appearing for Kundra, is instructed by Parinam Law Associates.