Raj Kundra's bail plea deferred in Porn racket case; to remain in custody till August 20

In a key development, a Sessions Court on Thursday deferred the bail application of Shilpa Shetty's husband and renowned businessman Raj Kundra till August 20. This means that he will have to stay behind bars till then as the Mumbai police's crime branch continues to probe the porn racket case, in connection with which he was arrested on the night of July 19 after being booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. In all, 11 people have been arrested in connection with the racket, which includes Ryan Tharp and Umesh Kamat. 

'May leave the country': Police before the court 

In the bail application, Kundra has stated that there is 'no obscenity' in the evidence that the police claimed to have seized. Countering the statement, the police, before the court, asserted that the videos seized during the probe show that pornographic content, which was uploaded on the Hotshots app, was linked to Kundra’s company.

Further, The police added, "He is an influential person and a British citizen and may leave the country if released."

On Saturday, the Bombay High Court had dismissed Raj Kundra's plea challenging his 'illegal' arrest. Further, the court had noted that the order of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate was within the conformity of law and did not require any interference. "The aforesaid would lead to a conclusion that the remand to custody by the metropolitan magistrate is within the conformity of law and does not require any interference," the court had said. 

Raj Kundra porn case

Raj Kundra - Businessman and husband of Shilpa Shetty - was arrested in a pornographic content circulation racket by the Mumbai Police on the night of July 19. The next day Mumbai Police revealed that struggling models and artists were lured and promised roles in short films and web series after which they were forced to do nude and semi-nude scenes against their wishes. 

The Mumbai police found that various mobile applications including the Hotshots app were being operated to circulate porn in the cyber world. The Hotshots app was owned by London-based firm called Kernin, but all its content was being produced and accounts were being handled by the Viaan company in Mumbai, owned by Raj Kundra.