Raj Kundra sent to judicial custody for 14 days

Actress Shilpa Shetty's husband and businessman Raj Kundra has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a magistrate court. On Tuesday, July 27 the magistrate court in Mumbai decided to send Raj Kundra and his close aide Ryan Thorpe to judicial custody in connection with the pornography racket case.

 Mumbai Police had nabbed Kundra and 11 others on July 19 on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films. He had moved the Bombay High Court on July 23 challenging police custody. As per reports, the matter is kept for hearing tomorrow again.

As per a Live Law report, this is what Raj Kundra’s bail plea specifically says: “Notice in the matter where FIR is registered on 05.02.2021, the Charge sheet is filed on 03.04.2021 and they could have easily served notice and could have allowed the Petitioner to appear and give his statement and if the Petitioner failed to do so the consequences would had followed. However, if the Petitioner did appear then under Section 41A (3), he should not be arrested at all, is the mandate of law.”

Mumbai Police has named Kundra as the key conspirator and has slapped charges against him under Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. 

As a part of the investigations, his and actress Shilpa Shetty’s Mumbai house was raided by the Crime Branch. The Mumbai Police claims that they have found huge transaction trails in Kundra’s accounts. There are further claims that the money that Kundra earned through the distribution of porn films was used by him for online betting. His financial records are also being investigated and his bank accounts have been frozen.

Actor Flora Saini, who played the titular character in Stree, has reacted to reports of her name appearing in alleged WhatsApp chats between businessman Raj Kundra and his associate, Umesh Kamat. Talking to ETimes said that she was not in touch with Kundra and her name is being dragged for no real reason. "I have never interacted with Raj Kundra. This is why I spoke up. Had I kept quiet, people would have assumed I had something to hide. If two people discuss my name in a chat that doesn’t mean I am aware or involved with what was being discussed," told Flora.