Aishwarya Rathore-
Published on: August 18, 2021 15:09 IST
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted temporary protection from arrest to businessman Raj Kundra in connection with a pornography racket case.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep K Shinde was hearing the Anticipatory bail plea in connection to FIR filed by the City Police in the year 2020.
Kundra moved the High Court after his pre-arrest bail request was rejected by the Sessions Court earlier this month in a similar case involving pornographic films filed by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch.
Kundra’s counsel, Prashant Patil, claimed that the High Court had given interim protection to the other co-accused in the case, including Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey, and therefore his custodial interrogation was also not required.
Patil further asserted that the charges levelled against Kundra were punishable with less than seven years in prison and, therefore, he deserved protection from arrest.
Kundra also stated that one of the apps created by the Company called “Hotshots” has nothing to do with pornography, as is alleged by the Police and he was being falsely implicated in the matter.
Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde objected to the plea, claiming that Kundra’s role in the case was different from that of the other accused, therefore he cannot not seek protection on the ground of parity.
Shinde requested more time to take instructions to argue on merits of the plea.
The High Court granted time to the prosecution lawyer and issued an order protecting Kundra from arrest till 25 August.
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