Actress Poonam Pandey granted protection from arrest in porn video case

(Photo : IANS)


A Supreme Court order on Tuesday granted Poonam Pandey protection from arrest in connection with the porn film racket case in which Raj Kundra is one of the main defendants.

Pandey appealed to the Bombay High Court against a Bombay High Court order that threw out her anticipatory bail plea. A bench of Vineet Saran and B.V. Nagarathna issued notice to the Maharashtra government. “Issue notice.. In the meanwhile, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner,” said the top court in its order.

Pandey did not receive relief from the Bombay High Court last November. A petition was filed with the Supreme Court challenging the high court’s decision. In addition to actor Sherlyn Chopra, Pandey was made an accuser in the FIR.

In a porn film racket case, the Supreme Court granted Kundra four weeks of protection from arrest on December 15.

Kundra had filed an anticipatory bail application with the Bombay High Court in November in connection with a porn film racket FIR registered by the Mumbai Police against him. In that case, the High Court declined to entertain Kundra’s application. After the High Court declined to grant relief, Kundra approached the Supreme Court.

Initially, Kundra asked the session court for anticipatory bail, but it would not grant him any relief. Afterward, he filed a case with the Bombay High Court alleging framing.

Kundra is accused of distributing sexually explicit videos under the Indian Penal Code, the Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act, and the Information Technology Act, by the cyber-crime unit of the Mumbai Police.

Kundra denied creating, publishing or transmitting the alleged illegal videos. In July last year, the Mumbai Police arrested him in another case for distributing pornographic films via an app. Kundra was released on bail in September.

(With inputs from IANS)