Bombay High Court rejects immediate release plea of Raj Kundra, his aide Ryan Thorpe

In a court hearing that was conducted physically, a single bench of Justice A S Gadkari rejected the plea challenging their arrest.

The Bombay High Court on Saturday rejected plea of businessman and husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra and his aide Ryan Thorpe seeking their immediate release from Arthur Road Jail. Mr Kundra was arrested last month in connection with allegedly producing pornographic content and publishing them on HotShots app.

Mr Kundra had challenged a remand order issued against him by a magistrate's court rejecting their bail plea. He said that he had not been notified or issued summons before arrest as was required under the Code of Criminal Procedure, reported NDTV. The magistrate court had said if their bail plea is accepted, then "they will hamper the investigation and the alleged offence is detrimental to the health of society."

In a court hearing that was conducted physically, a single bench of Justice A S Gadkari rejected the plea challenging their arrest. According to the Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai, the Mumbai Police had issued a notice to Mr Kundra but he had refused it. She also said that they had deleted WhatsApp chats from groups in order to destroy the evidence, reported The Hindu. She added that there were around 100 porn videos in a hard disk of the office laptop. A bail plea has been filed before the sessions court by Mr Kundra and its hearing is on August 10.