Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has filed defamation suit in Bombay High Court against 29 media personnel and media houses for 'doing false reporting and maligning her image' in the pornography case in which her husband Raj Kundra is accused. The court will be hearing the matter tomorrow on July 30.
Mumbai Police today during a hearing in matter told the Bombay High Court that businessman Raj Kundra was arrested in an alleged case of production and streaming of pornographic films as he was not cooperating with the investigation. In an affidavit filed in response to Kundra's petition challenging the arrest, the police also argued that section 67(A) of the Information Technology Act, which is about "publishing/creating pornographic content", was rightly invoked in the case.
Kundra was arrested by the police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films. He 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, said the police.
Kundra also alleged that the police had not issued any notice under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure before arrest, which is mandatory. As per section 41A, the police may, in cases where arrest is not warranted, issue summons to the accused and record his or her statement.
"The fact that the petitioner refused to accept the notice implies that the petitioner refused to cooperate with the investigation," said the affidavit filed by inspector Kiran Bidve.
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing pornography racked case against Raj Kundra, earlier in the day, Shilpa Shetty's mother Sunanda Shetty lodged a cheating complaint in a Rs 1.6 crore land deal case.
According to the Mumbai Police, one Sudhakar Ghare has been named by Sunanda Shetty in her complaint. She has alleged that the accused, with the help of fake papers, had sold land to her for Rs 1.6 crore, said the police.
(With agency inputs)
