The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Bollywood actors Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey and businessman Raj Kundra and others in a case against them for allegedly distributing pornographic videos. A bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said, “After hearing counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the petitioners may be granted anticipatory bail…”
Advocate R. Basant, representing one of the petitioners, argued before the panel that an indictment had been filed in the case. Basant emphasized that the accused were cooperating with the police in the investigation.
The bench also directed Kundra and other accused in the case to cooperate with the police in the investigation. Kundra was earlier granted interim protection from arrest by the high court. The case also named Chopra and Pandey as co-accused.
Kundra claimed that he was not associated with the content creation, publication or transmission of the alleged illegal videos. In July 2021, he was arrested by the Mumbai police in another case where he was accused of distributing pornographic films through an app. In September 2021, Kundra was released on bail.
The cyber cell of the Mumbai police filed a case against Kundra under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology Act for allegedly circulating sexually explicit videos.
