News Analysis India

Tag: Mumbai Police

  • Probe panel issues bailable warrant against Param Bir Singh for failing to appear before it

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: An inquiry commission headed by a retired high court judge on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for not appearing before it.

    The Maharashtra government in March this year formed a one-member commission of Justice (retd) Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to conduct a probe into corruption allegations levelled by Singh against the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

    ​The commission had issued summons to Singh multiple times to appear before it, but he failed to do so. Hence, the panel issued a bailable warrant against him, a government lawyer said.

    ​ALSO READ | Mumbai: Param Bir Singh deposits Rs 50,000 in CM’s fund imposed for non-compliance of summons

    Earlier, the commission had thrice imposed fines on Singh – Rs 5,000 in June and Rs 25,000 on two occasions last month – for failing to appear before it.

    Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner and transferred to the Home Guards in March, Singh claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai.

    Deshmukh, an NCP leader who resigned from the post of state home minister in April, has denied the allegations.

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by the senior IPS officer.

  • Pornography case: Bombay HC grants interim protection from arrest to Raj Kundra

    By PTI

    MUM BAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to businessman Raj Kundra in connection with a porn films racket case registered by the city police in 2020. A single bench of Justice SK Shinde directed the police to respond on August 25 to the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Kundra. “Interim protection granted till then,” Justice Shinde said.

    Kundra, the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, is currently in jail after being arrested in July in another case related to production and distribution of pornographic clips on some mobile apps. He filed the anticipatory bail plea in the HC last week in connection with the 2020 case, after a sessions court rejected his application seeking pre-arrest bail.

    ALSO READ| Porn films case: Bail to Raj Kundra will send wrong message to society, cops tell court

    In his plea, Kundra claimed that another accused in the case was granted bail and hence, he too should be given bail on parity. Opposing the plea in the HC on Wednesday, Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde submitted that Kundra’s role in the case was different from the other accused in the case.

    She sought time to take more instructions on the application. Granting her time, Justice Shinde directed for an interim order protecting Kundra from arrest till the next hearing date -August 25. The FIR against Kundra was registered in October 2020 by the Mumbai police’s cyber crime cell for alleged broadcasting of nude erotic content on an OTT platform.

    Kundra in his plea submitted that he was falsely implicated in the case. He claimed there was not a single iota of evidence with the prosecution to connect the ‘Hotshot’ app with the offences alleged, as none of the actresses arraigned as accused in the case had raised any grievance.

  • Extortion case: Lookout notice issued against ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in Thane

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Thane police have issued a lookout notice against senior Maharashtra IPS officer Param Bir Singh in connection with an extortion case, an official said on Thursday.

    The notice was issued in the extortion case registered at the Thane Nagar Police Station against Singh, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner, and 27 others on July 30 on a complaint of businessman Ketan Tanna.

    A lookout notice is issued to prevent a person from leaving the country.

    Besides Singh, who earlier served as the Thane Police Commissioner, the extortion FIR names several other police officers.

    These include the then Deputy Commissioner of Police Dipak Deoraj, Assistant Commissioner of Police Nivrurti Kadam, the then Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) senior Inspector Pradeep Sharma and Inspector Rajkumar Kothmire, the official said.

    In his complaint, Tanna has alleged that when Singh was the Thane Police Commissioner between January 2018 and February 2019, the accused extorted Rs 1.25 crore from him by summoning him to the AEC office and threatening to frame him up in serious criminal cases.

    During investigation, the probe team felt the necessity to issue a lookout notice against Singh, following which a proposal in this regard was sent to authorities concerned, he said.

    Accordingly, the notice has been issued against top cop, he said.

    The notice allows immigration officials at airports to prevent a person wanted by the police or other law enforcement agencies to travel abroad.

    A second case of extortion has been registered against Singh and DCP Parag Manere at the Kopri Police Station in Thane city.

    In this case too, a proposal about issuing lookout notices against Singh and Manere has been sent by the police, the official said.

    “We are waiting for a reply from the office of FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Officer) about the lookout notice in the Kopri case,” he said.

  • Pornography case: Mumbai court rejects Raj Kundra’s bail plea

    By ANI

    MUMBAI: The metropolitan magistrate court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe in the pornography case, stating that release of the accused will ‘hamper the investigation’ and the alleged offence is ‘detrimental to the health of the society’.

    The court in its order has said, “One of the considerations for refusing or granting the bail is the nature of offence and gravity of the offence. The effect of the alleged offence is having nexus with the public at large. The alleged offence is also detrimental to the health of our society.”

    “In such circumstances, societal interest in the prosecution of a crime that has a wider social dimension cannot be overlooked. At present investigation is in progress. In such circumstances, at this stage release of the accused will definitely hamper the investigation. So considering the facts and circumstances, both the bail applications are rejected,” said the court.

    ALSO READ: Mumbai crime branch summons director of Armsprime Media Private Limited in pornography case

    Court also considered the prosecution’s argument that the accused have deleted the evidence.

    Strongly objecting to the bail plea of the accused, the court stated that the investigation is still going on and the offence is of serious nature, adding that if the accused are released on bail, then they will abscond and the possibility of tampering with the evidence cannot be ruled out.

    On August 2, the Bombay High Court reserved its order on petitions filed by businessman Raj Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe challenging their arrest in a case in connection with the pornography racket case.

    During the proceedings of the court, the investigating officer told the court that 68 pornography videos were found on Kundra’s laptop.

    “There was a PowerPoint presentation (PPT) on Kundra’s laptop with details of Hotshots app. The PPT has financial projections, marketing strategies and what the app is all about,” police told the court.

    Police added that a film script with sexual content was also found on Kundra’s personal laptop.

    “Kundra has deleted his i-cloud contents,” police said adding they “cannot be mute spectators of a potential crime if the accused does not co-operate and tries to destroy evidence.”

    On July 27, a court in Mumbai sent actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra along with his associate Ryan Thorpe to judicial custody for 14 days.

    Kundra was arrested by police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films.

    Meanwhile, Crime Branch has appointed a financial auditor to probe the money trail of Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty and their alleged involvement in the pornography racket case.

    “In the investigation, the Crime Branch has found transactions worth crores were done from the joint account of Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra. The Crime Branch suspects that the earnings from ‘Hotshots’ and ‘Bolly Fame’ app used to come into this account,” said the sources.

    They added that police is also probing whether money earned from the apps was being invested in bitcoins.

    Earlier on July 25, police had informed that four employees of Kundra have turned witnesses against him in the pornography racket case, increasing troubles for him.

    Kundra has been named as the key conspirator by the Mumbai Police which has slapped charges against him under Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. 

  • Pornography case: Mumbai court denies interim relief from arrest to actress Gehana Vasisth

    By PTI
    MUMBAI A court here on Tuesday denied interim protection from arrest to actress Gehana Vasisth in a pornography case, in which businessman Raj Kundra is one of the accused, observing that allegations against her are of serious nature.

    Fearing arrest, the actress has filed the anticipatory bail application before additional sessions judge Sonali Agarwal. The court posted the matter for hearing on August 6. However, it refused to grant any interim relief to Vasisth till then.

    “The allegations in the present FIR are of serious nature that accused compelled other victim to do kiss scenes and sex scenes. Considering such allegations and circumstances, I do not find this is a fit case to grant interim relief,” the court said.

    Mumbai Crime Branch had registered a case in February 2021 in connection with the production of adult films and circulating them through mobile applications to paid subscribers.

    Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe were arrested last month. They are currently in judicial custody. The court had recently rejected the anticipatory bail plea of model Sherlyn Chopra, another accused in the case.

  • Pornography case: Bombay HC to hear Raj Kundra’s bail plea today

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Bombay High Court will be hearing Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra’s plea challenging police custody and seeking bail on Tuesday in connection with pornography racket.

    His police custody in the case ends today. Kundra, 45, was arrested by the police on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films.

    Meanwhile, Crime Branch has appointed a financial auditor to probe the money trail of Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty and their alleged involvement in the pornography racket case.

    “In the investigation, the Crime Branch has found transactions worth crores were done from the joint account of Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra. The Crime Branch suspects that the earnings from ‘Hotshots’ and ‘Bolly Fame’ app used to come into this account,” said the sources.

    They added that police is also probing whether money earned from the apps was being invested in bitcoins.

    Earlier on Sunday, police had informed that four employees of Kundra have turned witnesses against him in the pornography racket case, increasing troubles for him.

    Kundra has been named as the key conspirator by the Mumbai Police which has slapped charges against him under Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. 

  • Raj Kundra’s employees turn witnesses in pornography racket case

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Four employees of businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra have turned witnesses against him in the pornography racket case, informed Mumbai Police sources on Sunday.

    They further added that these employees have furnished the entire information about the working of the racket to the property cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch, increasing trouble for Kundra.

    He was arrested by the Mumbai Police late on July 19 along with 11 other people on charges related to the alleged creation of pornographic films and will remain in the custody of the Mumbai Crime Branch till July 27.

    The property cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch on Sunday summoned Television actor and model Gehana Vasisth and two other people for questioning in connection with a pornography case.

    Meanwhile, investigating the porn film case, Mumbai Police Crime Branch has found a hidden cupboard in Kundra’s Viaan and JL Stream office in Mumbai’s Andheri during searches.

    As per sources, Kundra will soon face money laundering and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) cases against him as Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to register cases under these Acts against him.

    Currently, the case involves the alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps.

    Kundra has been named as the key conspirator by the Mumbai Police which has slapped charges against him under Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides relevant sections of the IT Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

  • ‘Films do not contain explicitly sexual acts’: Raj Kundra moves HC against arrest

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Businessman Raj Kundra on Friday challenged before the Bombay High Court his arrest in a case of alleged production and distribution of pornographic films through apps, saying these videos might be described as “lascivious” but do not show “explicit sexual acts”.

    Kundra (45), the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, was arrested on July 19 by Mumbai Police.

    A magistrate’s court remanded him in police custody till July 27.

    The petition sought quashing of the lower court’s order.

    The magistrate’s order sending him in police custody violated the law as serving a notice under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (before arrest) is mandatory, especially in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

    ALSO READ | Porn films case: Court extends Raj Kundra’s police remand till July 27

    As per section 41A, the police may, in cases where arrest is not warranted, issue summons to the accused person and record his or her statement.

    The material which the police claim to be pornographic did not “depict direct explicit sexual acts and sexual intercourse but shows material in the form of short movies which are lascivious or appeal to the prurient interest of persons at best”, Kundra’s plea contended.

    Hence section 67A of the Information Technology Act (publishing sexually explicit content) cannot be invoked, and at the most it would attract section 67 (publishing lascivious content), it said.

    On July 19, 2021, the police carried out a search at his office and requested him to go to the police station to record statement, Kundra said.

    ALSO READ | Raj Kundra’s arrest: Actor and wife Shilpa Shetty shares post on ‘surviving challenges’

    “The respondent (police) arrested the petitioner in the police station where he was called under the garb of recording his statement,” the plea alleged.

    After his arrest Kundra was asked to sign a notice issued under section 41A of CrPC which he refused to do, it claimed.

    Further, the sections under which he is booked do not prescribe a sentence of more than seven years in jail, so his arrest, without prior notice under section 41 A, “is completely illegal”, the petition said.

    When the First Information Report (FIR) was registered in February 2021, he was not even named as accused, Kundra said, adding that a charge sheet was filed in the case in April and several other accused are now out on bail.

  • Porn films case: Court extends Raj Kundra’s police remand till July 27

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A court in Mumbai on Friday extended till July 27 the police custody of businessman Raj Kundra in a case related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps.

    Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, was arrested on the night of July 19 by the city police’s crime branch after being booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

    He was produced before the magistrate court at the end of his earlier remand on Friday.

    ALSO READ | Mumbai police arrest Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra in case related to pornographic films

    Police sought extension of his custody to probe the matter further.

    The police had earlier told the court that the 45-year-old businessman was gaining financially from the illegal activity of making and selling pornographic material.

    The police had claimed they have seized Kundra’s mobile phone and its contents need to be scrutinised and also his business dealings and transactions have to be looked into.

    Apart from Kundra, the police also produced another accused, Ryan Thorpe, before the court, which extended his custody till July 27.

  • Can Mumbai cops behind reinstating Waze claim impunity? HC to CBI on Anil Deshmukh’s plea

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday asked if Mumbai Police officers, who were behind the reinstatement of former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze in the service, could claim impunity on the ground that they were unaware of his past records and antecedents.

    A bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar said that if one were to get into the “root” of the allegations of corruption made against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, one would prima facie see that Waze had been collecting the extortion money that Deshmukh allegedly asked him to.

    “However, who was behind reinstating Waze into the city police force, the bench asked? “Can they say they didn’t know about his past?” the bench asked.

    The bench posed the question to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducting an inquiry against Deshmukh following allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    The bench said it was saying, “at the cost of repetition,” that the CBI must not exclude any guilty party out of its probe.

    “At the cost of repeating, we are saying that the investigation must be against all involved. The normal way is that as long as things are going well, no one says anything. Once a transfer happens, all sorts of allegations are made,” the bench said.

    “If we get into the root of this matter, Waze was collecting money. So who was behind his reinstatement? Can someone now say that he was not aware of Waze’s past, his record etc. (while reinstating him)? That is why we are saying again and again that this episode was not a one-man thing. The crux of the HC order (directing a preliminary inquiry into the allegations) is to instil public confidence,” the HC said.

    The high court’s observations came while it was hearing a plea filed by Deshmukh seeking that the FIR registered by the CBI against him be quashed.

    He had denied the allegations against him.

    Deshmukh’s counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai had said that the CBI probe was illegal since the agency had failed to take prior sanction to prosecute Deshmukh, who was at the time a public servant.

    Appearing for the CBI, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi told the high court that no sanction was required as Deshmukh hadn’t been discharging his official duties by indulging in corruption and misconduct.

    Lekhi said the CBI probe didn’t warrant any interference from the court.

    “The home minister (Deshmukh) gave a target to collect money to Waze. It’s not a minister’s job to give targets to police officers. This case is of maladministration and misgovernance,” Lekhi said.

    “The minister was asking officers to conduct financial deals not mandated by the statute. This was outside of the realm of what a minister can do. A minister’s work can’t be lacking in legitimacy and be illicit. Since it was so in this case, such acts can’t be said to have been performed in the discharge of his official duties,” he said.

    Besides, the provision to seek prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act was not meant to protect wrongdoers, Lekhi said.

    He further said that “no one” was outside the purview of the CBI’s probe.

    The HC then asked what prevented the seniormost police officer in the state (ParamBir Singh) from initiating an inquiry against Deshmukh as soon as he got to know of the former minister’s alleged misconduct?

    “Was is not the duty of the then CP to have registered an FIR? Was it then not the duty of the top police officer to immediately register a case? We expect a practical investigation against all (parties involved). Why was the highest officer not investigating when informed. He could himself have registered the FIR,” it said.

    The court also asked the CBI for a copy of its probe report in the case.

    It said it will return the report in a sealed envelope to the central agency after going through the same.

    The HC closed all arguments on Deshmukh’s plea on Monday and reserved its verdict on the same.

    Waze was reinstated last June after being under suspension for over 16 years for his alleged role in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case.

    In April this year, a bench led by Bombay HC chief justice Dipankar Datta had directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh based on a complaint lodged at the Malabar Hill police station in the city, by lawyer Jaishri Patil.

    In her complaint seeking a probe against both Deshmukh and Param Bir Singh, Patil had also attached a copy of the letter written by Singh to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray making allegations against Deshmukh.

    The CBI subsequently registered an FIR against Deshmukh on charges of corruption.

    The agency said in its FIR that Deshmukh had had the knowledge of the reinstatement of former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, and that he exercised undue interference in the transfers and postings of state police officers.

    Waze, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the recovery of an explosives-laden SUV from outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in south Mumbai and the subsequent murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, was later sacked from the service.