Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra was granted bail by the Mumbai court in the pornography case on Monday on a surety of ₹50,000. Raj Kundra was said to be the key conspirator in the Pornography case. The IT head of his company, ‘Viaan Industries’, Ryan Thorpe was also granted bail along with him.
Last Thursday, the Mumbai Police had filed a 1,500-page charge sheet in court listing charges against the businessman Raj Kundra claiming him to be the key conspirator in the pornography case.
Businessman Raj Kundra had moved a bail application in court claiming that he was being made a “scapegoat”. In the plea, his advocate Prashant Patil had claimed that there is not a single proof of evidence to date with the prosecution that would connect the app ‘Hotshots’ with an offence under the law.
He also said that there is not a single allegation in the entire supplementary charge sheet against the present applicant Raj Kundra that he was actively involved in any of the video shootings.
The contents of the complaint do not disclose any prima-facie offence against Kundra, the application said. He was arrested on July 19, Raj said in his bail plea that he was falsely implicated and dragged into the case.
The first charge sheet was filed in April against nine people. After further investigation, two more accused, including Raj Kundra, were arrested. Mumbai police have claimed that Raj Kundra, along with Ryan Thorpe, the IT head of his company, ‘Viaan Industries’, were reportedly involved in creating pornographic content and publishing it through various OTT apps.
According to the charge sheet, Shilpa Shetty had told the police that she was not aware of her husband’s activities.
She has been listed as a witness in the charge sheet by Mumbai police.
Shilpa Shetty also told the police that she was not aware of the controversial apps “Hotshots” or “Bollyfame”, both linked to the porn racket.
The pornography case came into the limelight when police conducted a raid in a bungalow in Madh Island where porn films were allegedly being shot, leading to the arrest of filmmakers, actors and other crew members. After a thorough investigation by Mumbai police, Raj Kundra was arrested on July 19 and is currently in judicial custody. He was booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. Raj Kundra’s lawyer called his arrest ‘illegal’. Raj Kundra had argued in court that the content shared on the app is not pornographic and that similar material is available on OTT platforms like Netflix.