Mumbai court grants bail to Kundra

Mumbai: Five days after a comprehensive supplementary chargesheet was filed by the police against him in the alleged pornography content case,  a Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate granted bail to  Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty’s  husband and businessman Raj Kundra in the much-discussed sensational case against a bail bond of Rs 50,000.

After finding merit in the arguments made by his lawyers Niranjan Mundargi and Prashant Patil, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate SB Bhajipale granted bail to Kundra in the alleged pornography content case.

The Magistrate also granted bail to Kundra’s company Viaan Industry's IT head Ryan Thorpe on similar grounds in the same case.

On September 15, the Crime Branch sleuths of the Mumbai police filed a 1,467-page supplementary charge sheet against Kundra and Ryan.

Among other things, Kundar’s lawyer Mundargi argued that his client had been made a “scapegoat” in the case and there was no evidence against him in the charge sheet of him being actively involved in the creation of alleged questionable content.

Supplementing the arguments made by Mundargi,  Kundra’s another Prashant Patil told the court that that the primary charge-sheet did not contain a single allegation against his client nor was there any allegation in  the supplementary chargesheet  to suggest that the victims had interacted with him or had they been approached by Kundra for filming of the obscene videos.

Kundra’s lawyers  made a case for his bail by saying in his application that since the Mumbai Police had already filed a charge-sheet, it was clear that the investigations against him were over and that he was now entitled for bail.

Kundra’s lawyers also argued in the court that after the first charge-sheet was filed against nine other accused in the case, eight were released on bail. He went on to seek bail on grounds of parity with the other accused already released on bail.

They also told the court that Kundra was associated with a company which owns the apps, HotShot and Bollyfame for only 10 months.

Opposing the bail pleas of Kundra and Ryan, the Public Prosecutor told the court that the charge-sheet had been filed against Kundra and Ryan could not be the reason for granting them bail.

However, after hearing both the sides, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Bhajipale granted bail to both of them against a bail bond of Rs 50,000.

Kundra, who was arrested along with Ryan July 19 in connection with a complaint registered by the Crime Branch in 2021, has been booked under Sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material) under the



Indian Penal Code, Sections 66E, 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) under the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

Kundra, who lives in Mumbai with his wife Shilpa Shetty and two children, had earlier told the court that there was no evidence to link him against the HotShot App and was being made a ‘scapegoat’. He had submitted to the court that he had been falsely implicated in the case while the Cyber Cell was making an attempt to connect him with the crime.

Kundra, who is the founder Viaan Industries Ltd, and his United Kingdom-based brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi, the Chairman of Kenrin Group, London, have been named masterminds of the porn content racket.

In April this year, the police had filed its first charge-sheet in the case against nine persons originally accused. After subsequent investigations, the police arrested two more accused, including “Kundra

Earlier, nine persons had been arrested. They comprised television actress Gehna Vashisht (32) Yasmin Khan (40) Monu Joshi (28) Pratibha Nalavade (33) Atif Ahmed (24), Dipankar Khasnavis (38), Bhanusurya Thakur ( 26) Tanvir Hashmi (40) and Umesh Kamat (39).

The HotShots app --- described as the “world’s first 18+ app” showcasing some of the hottest models and celebs globally in exclusive photos, short films and hot videos (implying soft-to-hard porn) – was removed from mobile platforms. Similarly,  Apple and Google have removed the app because of the pornographic content in it.

On his part, 46-year-old Kundra has denied any involvement and has claimed that he had sold the "Hotshots" app to Pradip Bakshi. However, the police said Mr Kundra was kept in the loop about the finances of the app.

The two Kundra-linked firms — Viaan and Kendrin — made available porn content on mobile apps, offering subscriptions akin to the mainstream OTT platforms, advertise them on social media, all of which were illegal as pornography in any form is banned in India.

The laws against publishing and transmitting "obscene material" are considered illegal in the country, while watching pornography in private is legal.

The modus operandi involved in the production and circulation of pornographic films was: the porn films were allegedly shot in India, transferred using WeTransfer to the UK and released as paid mobile apps there.

The police said that Kundra had allegedly also set up a WhatsApp group on which matters relating to the production, distribution and selling of Hotshots clips were discussed.