Mumbai Police told the Bombay High Court on Monday that the agency chose not to remain a mute spectator while businessman Raj Kundra and his associates destroyed evidence. The high court is hearing Kundra’s plea that the arrest of him and his aide Ryan Thorpe was illegal as summons had not been issued to them before their arrest. Police argued that Kundra was not cooperating with the investigation in the case filed by the Mumbai Crime Branch in February this year, and destroyed evidence.
“They (Kundra and Thorpe) were found deleting some WhatsApp chats. The attitude of the applicant Raj Kundra speaks of his cooperation in the investigation. We don’t know how much data has been deleted. Public Prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai, on behalf of Mumbai Police, said that the police is still trying to retrieve it. He further told the court that later IPC section 201 (destruction of evidence) was invoked against the accused persons. If the accused persons are destroying the evidence, can the investigating agency remain a mute spectator?” he asked.
Police told the HC that Kundra had deleted his iCloud account, but they were able to find “61 pornographic videos”, a script containing adult content, and 51 more videos in the storage space. He said that he also found a WhatsApp group along with other accused. Powerpoint presentation on case as well as HotShots app.
Kundra’s lawyer Aabad Ponda denied the police’s allegations and said that all his equipment including his phone and laptop were confiscated by the police during the searches. “If my machines are with you, how will I (Mr. Kundra) remove it? Had I removed before the notice, they would not have issued me the notice,” Ponda asked.
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and Thorpe’s husband Kundra (45) have in their applications termed their arrest as illegal, as they did not comply with the mandatory provision of issuance of notice under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). . . Both in their petition sought the High Court to direct their immediate release and quash two orders of a magistrate sending them to police custody after their arrest. According to section 41A, the police can, in cases where there is no warrant of arrest, issue summons to the accused person and record his statement.
While Kundra was arrested by the crime branch on July 19, Thorpe, who was working as the IT chief in Kundra’s firm, was arrested on July 20. Both are now in jail in judicial custody. Pai on Monday told a single bench of Justice AS Gadkari that notices under Section 41A were in fact issued to both Kundra and Thorpe prior to their arrest.
Kundra refused to accept it, while Thorpe accepted it, Pai said. It argued that the accused (Kundra and Thorpe) were arrested on July 19 due to their conduct during the searches being conducted by the police in their office premises.
“Kundra is the admin of the Hotshots app (which is at the center of the alleged porn racket). During the search, the police seized a laptop from Kundra’s office in which 68 obscene videos were recovered. This is in addition to the 51 videos previously recovered from the storage area network. Similar app BollyFame.
Thorpe’s counsel Abhinav Chandrachud argued that notice under 41A was issued to Thorpe, but he was not given time to comply or respond. Before Thorpe could act on the notice, he was arrested, he said. Chandrachud further said that there are several discrepancies which cast doubt on the prosecution’s case.
After the lawyers concluded their arguments, the HC reserved its order on the petitions. Kundra, in his plea in the HC, has also said that the material claimed by the police to be obscene, does not depict explicit sexual acts, but shows material in the form of short films “which are erotic or of interest to persons”. appeals to. “.
In a related development, a sessions court on Monday reserved its order on an anticipatory bail plea filed by Kundra seeking pre-arrest bail in a similar case related to porn material lodged by Mumbai Police last year. The sessions court will pronounce its order on the anticipatory bail plea on August 7.
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