Pornography racket case: Raj Kundra gets bail on Rs 50,000 surety

Mumbai, Sep 20: Two months after his arrest, businessman Raj Kundra, husband of popular Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, has been granted bail by a Mumbai court on Monday, 20 September in the pornography racket case. The court has asked him to pay Rs 50,000 surety for his release.

On Saturday, Kundra filed a bail application claiming that there was not a piece of single evidence in the supplementary charge sheet showcasing his active involvement in the racket.

It came after the crime branch filed a 1467-page supplementary charge sheet against Raj Kundra and three others, including Ryan Thorpe, the IT head of Kundra's Viaan industries, in connection with the alleged porn films racket case, last week.

The charge sheet comprises 40 statements, including that of Raj Kundra's wife Shilpa Shetty. However, it mentions that the businessman's brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi is absconding. The emails, WhatsApp chats, details of 24 hard disks, bank details and information about the Hotshots app are part of the charge sheet.

The charge sheet accused Kundra of exploiting young women in the film industry and stated that the pornographic materials were sold through subscriptions. He earned Rs 1.17 crore from subscribers of Hotshots app on Apple's App Store between August and December 2020.

In his bail plea, Raj Kundra claimed that he was made a scapegoat in the case as there was not a single iota of evidence to date with the prosecution that would connect the app 'Hotshots' with an offence under the law.

Raj Kundra and Ryan Thorpe were arrested on 19 July after the case came to light in February 2021 following a raid on a bungalow in western Mumbai. Kundra has been booked under sections 354(C) (Voyeurism), 292 (sale of obscene content), 293 (sale of obscene objects to persons under 20 years of age), 420 (cheating), 201(destruction of evidence) of the IPC and Sections 66E, 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) of the IT Act and sections of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986.

Hotshots App is owned by Kenrin Private Limited and Ra Kundra is accused of managing the app. Kundra's company Arms Prime Media Ltd developed it before selling it to Kendrin Private Limited, owned by Kundra's brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi.