Raj Kundra granted bail by Mumbai court in porn film case

A Mumbai Court on Monday granted bail to businessman Raj Kundra, accused in the porn film case of 2021.

Kundra had moved the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade, Mumbai seeking bail on the ground that the investigation against him was complete.

Advocate Niranjan Mundargi appearing for Kundra, submitted that Mumbai Police has filed a detailed supplementary chargesheet against four persons, including Kundra, arraigning them as accused.

He argued that on account of the observation that the offence of cheating does not seem to be made out.

He stated that once cheating is kept aside, all the other offences are punishable with a maximum of 5 years of imprisonment.

Advocate Prashant Patil supplemented Mundargi’s submission that the primary chargesheet did not contain a single allegation against Kundra.

He added that the supplementary chargesheet also did not contain a single allegation that the victims had interacted or had been approached by Kundra for filming of the obscene videos.

The Public Prosecutor opposed the bail applications stating that only because chargesheet has been filed does not imply bail is to be granted.

After briefly hearing the matter, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate SB Bhajipale allowed Kundra’s bail application.

Kundra will be released upon furnishing bail bond of ₹50,000.

Kundra was arrested by the Mumbai Police and produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade, who remanded him to police custody till July 23, 2021,which was extended till July 27.

His bail application was rejected on July 28, 2021 by the Magistrate Court.

Kundra has also approached the Mumbai Sessions Court seeking bail after the Magistrate Court rejected his bail plea.

The Sessions Court issued notice and police also filed a reply opposing the bail application.

However after the filing of the chargesheet, the application was withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh application before the Magistrate.

His plea assailing his remand to custody and subsequent orders of the Metropolitan Magistrate in the porn film racket case was dismissed by the Bombay High Court on August 7, 2021.