Businessman tycoon, Raj Kundra who is suffering in jail in alleged involvement in pornography racket and producing the porn content, has filed an anticipatory bail appeal with the Bombay High Court.

The Mumbai sessions court had dismissed anticipatory relief to Raj Kundra, who is facing prosecution in the case registered in November 2020. He afterward filed a plea with Bombay High Court, seeking to take back the order and relief him from arrest.

Raj Kundra in his bail appeal said that he is a renowned businessman and one of his acquaintances approached him to invest in a venture named Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd, which was into providing a digital platform for artists to show off their talents and interact with clients.

Raj Kundra further said that he thought the concept of the business was unique and a genuine business decision, based on which he slipped in it and invested his money. He added and claimed that he had only invested his money as a sleeping partner. However, he claims to have left the company in December 2019, a month after the FIR was registered against pornographic sites with links to Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd.

In his appeal, Raj Kundra claims to have been involved in several initiatives, including the Swachh Bharat Mission, for which he was awarded the Champion of Change award.

According to the appeal filed by advocate Prashant P Patil, Raj Kundra was not initially identified in the cyber cell FIR, but when he was summoned, he appeared in March and April, and his statement was penned down by police in June.

Patil said, “He had anticipated arrest, so he filed an anticipatory bail request in the Sessions Court, which was denied.”

Talking about the company, the appeal filed through Patil alleges that it is Kushawa Company and that Raj and porn star, Poonam Pandey were earlier partners in another company called Razor Media. The main target of Armsprime was to bring artists’ talents to the audience and allow them to interact with them.

The appeal further mentioned that there wasn’t any sort of forcing with the celebrities who take a difficult decision to showcase their talent on the platform. The proper agreement was also drawn between the celebrities and the company. Raj Kundra stated that he was not aware of the content provided by celebrities, Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra for the company’s OTT platform.

The bail plea states, “The hotshot up till date has nothing to do with pornography or content which are within the cover of an offense and other relevant provisions of law. There’s not a single iota of evidence till date from the prosecution that would connect the app of hotshots with an offense under the law.”

Kundra’s bail appeal mentioned that neither Chopra nor Pandey ever complained about the films airing on the platform. “By their own admission, their dispute is in respect of the sharing of financial gains and consequential contractual obligations,” states the plea.

The appeal added, “In this case, in March itself, Chopra and Pandey had been granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court. So, on the ground of parity, Kundra is seeking anticipatory bail,”