The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, granted anticipatory bail to businessman and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra, models Sherlyn Chopra, Poonam Pandey and one Umesh Kamat for producing obscene content and showing it on OTT platforms.
Granting anticipatory bail to four, a bench of Justice K M Joseph and Justice B V Nagarathna said that they must cooperate and join the investigation as and when required. Maharashtra police did not oppose their plea.
However, the court told Kundra, Sherlyn Chopra, Poonam Pandey and Umesh Kama to approach the trial court before which they are facing trial for regular bail.
Initially, the court had its misgivings on granting anticipatory bail to four asking “What message will it send to society”. However, it decided to grant anticipatory bail telling the four, “We will protect you till you can go to the court for regular bail”.
The court in its order granting anticipatory bail said, “Having heard the parties, we say that these are cases where the petitioners should be allowed anticipatory bail subject to conditions imposed by the trial court. In case they are required in the future, they should fully cooperate. The trial court should necessarily incorporate this as a condition.”
Kundra is accused of allegedly producing and distributing porn films using a subscriber-driven mobile app called ‘Hotshots’.
Kundra had claimed that there was no evidence of his being actively involved in the production of the alleged contents and he was being falsely implicated.
Maharashtra cyber police has filed a charge sheet against them in the case. They have been charged with shooting obscene videos in two suburban five-star hotels.