Pornography case: Bombay HC rejects pleas filed by Raj Kundra, Ryan Thorpe
Premium- Raj Kundra was arrested by police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films
Bombay High Court today dismissed businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty's husban Raj Kundra and Ryan Thorpe's applications challenging magistrate court's remand order and seeking immediate release in a case of alleged production and streaming of pornographic content on apps.
Currently, both are in judicial custody in the pornography case.
A single bench presided over by Justice A S Gadkari rejected their applications, saying that the duo's remand by a magistrate to police custody and the subsequent judicial custody was within the conformity of law and did not require interference. In their petitions, Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, and Thorpe had termed their arrest as illegal as the mandatory provision of issuing notice under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not followed.
The duo, in their plea, sought the high court to order for their immediate release and quash two orders passed by a magistrate after their arrest remanding them in police custody.
On July 27, a court in Mumbai sent actor Shilpa Shetty's husband and businessman Raj Kundra along with his associate Ryan Thorpe to judicial custody for 14 days.
Earlier, their bail applications were rejected by Esplanade magistrate court, stating that the release of the accused will 'hamper the investigation' and the alleged offence is 'detrimental to the health of the society.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court reserved its order on petitions filed by Raj Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe challenging their arrest in a case in connection with the pornography racket case.
During the proceedings of the court, the investigating officer told the court that 68 pornography videos were found on Kundra's laptop.
Police added that a film script with sexual content was also found on Kundra's personal laptop.
On July 27, a court in Mumbai sent Raj Kundra along with his associate Ryan Thorpe to judicial custody for 14 days.
Kundra was arrested by police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films.
Earlier on July 25, police had informed that four employees of Kundra have turned witnesses against him in the pornography racket case, increasing troubles for him.
Kundra has been named as the key conspirator by the Mumbai Police which 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.
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