Raj Kundra to stay in Jail, Bombay HC rejects plea

The Bombay High Court on Saturday denied to grant any relief to Raj Kundra seeking his immediate release from judicial custody in a porn film case. Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe had challenged their arrest and police remand in the case of alleged production and publishing of pornographic content. The High Court's order said there was nothing wrong with the magistrate court's order when it remanded Mr Kundra to police custody on July 20. Rejecting his plea, Justice AS Gadkari said his remand and subsequent judicial custody were within the conformity of law and did not require interference.

In his petition, Kundra contended that his arrest was illegal as the mandatory provision of issuing notice under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not followed. He said a number of people were arrested in connection with the pornographic content case and later released on bail before the crime branch officials searched his office on July 19. His petition said he was called by the police to their Byculla office on the pretext of recording a statement but was arrested instead. The petition further stated that despite the Supreme Court’s order against arresting and detaining persons accused of offences with punishment of less than seven years due to the Covid situation, the magistrate failed to take cognisance of the highest court’s order and remanded him to custody.

Earlier, the police had said that a notice was issued prior to his arrest but Raj Kundra had refused to accept it. The police argued that the refusal "implies the petitioner refused to co-operate". The businessman, along with an associate and employee Ryan Thorpe, was arrested on July 19 for involvement in the production of pornography. He, however, has argued that the content in question was not pornography and that similar material was available on OTT platforms.