Raj Kundra to stay in jail; Bombay HC rejects his plea seeking release from judicial custody

Businessman Raj Kundra’s plea seeking immediate release from judicial custody in connection to a porn film case was refused by the Bombay High Court on Saturday. Shilpa Shetty’s husband who was arrested last month challenged a remand order issued against him by a magistrate's court saying he had not been notified or issued summons before arrest as was required under the Code of Criminal Procedure, reported NDTV.

The court order also said that there was nothing wrong with the magistrate court's order when it remanded Mr Kundra to police custody on July 20. Justice AS Gadkari rejected Kundra’s plea and said his remand and subsequent judicial custody were within the conformity of law and did not require interference.

The High Court held, “It would lead to a conclusion that the arrest of the petitioners and remand to custody by the metropolitan magistrate dated July 20 is within the conformity of the provisions of law. The impugned order of the magistrate does not suffer any error which would require any interference by this court,” as reported by The Indian Express.

Raj Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe argued that the content in question was not pornography and that similar material was available on OTT platforms. The two were arrested on July 19 for the alleged involvement in the production of pornography.

So far, the courts have denied him bail despite applying several times since his arrest. Mr Kundra and Mr Thorpe are in judicial custody now and they will continue to be in jail, considering the HC’s dismissal on Saturday.