Raj Kundra sent to 14 days judicial custody
MUMBAI: Businessman Raj Kundra — the prime accused in a sensational porn films racket case — has been remanded to judicial custody for two weeks till Aug.10, his lawyer Abad Ponda said here on Tuesday.
Kundra - husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shety, was produced before a Mumbai court which declined the prosecution plea for extending his police custody by another seven days.
Among other things, the prosecution informed that the court that it had come across an amount of Rs 1.13 crore belonging to Kundra’s company in a private bank account which they wanted to probe further.
Opposing the remand plea, Ponda argued that Kundra’s custody is being sought in offences that are largely bailable barring two non-bailable charges.
He said that there was nothing new for which the prosecution was seeking to extend his custody and reiterated that if the police had summoned him (Kundra) he would have cooperated.
Ponda said that Kundra has applied for bail and his application will be taken up for hearing on Wednesday before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
Kundra has contended in his bail plea that he has been fully co-operating with the ongoing investigations and has already been in custody for long.
In a major swoop, the Mumbai Police arrested Kundra on July 19 in the sensational case of producing and distributing pornographic content through mobile applications.
Soon ater arrest, he was remanded to police custody till July 23, which was extended till July 27, and now he has sent to judicial custody till Aug.10.
The police have also raided Kundra’s home in Juhu last Friday and recorded the statement of his wife Shilpa Shety, besides summoning others, in the pornography case that first erupted in February and later international angles came to the fore.
The Mumbai Police have appealed to other victims to come forward and give information about the illegal acts commited against them and said they have already recorded statements of two aggrieved women.
Kundra has been charged with offences under various provisions of Indian Penal Code, IT Act and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Actor Umesh Kamat, who has starred in shows such as “Asambhav” and “Eka Lagnachi Teesri Goshta”, has come out with a statement stating that he has been “unnecessarily dragged in the controversy concerning businessman Raj Kundra.”