Raj Kundra – Life, Business And Controversies

Coverage of this Article

Key Takeaways

-Raj Kundra is businessman who has been involved in many controversies.

Introduction

-Raj Kundra is a British born Indian man who is renowned in the world for his various businesses.

Businesses

-Raj Kundra started his first business of selling pashmina shawls from Nepal in Britain when he relocated to Nepal.

Fine by SEBI

-A preferential allotment of 5,00,000 equity shares was made by Viaan Industries and they were supposed to disclose the information within 2 days, which they did not.

Pornography Case

-A woman had registered a case on February 4 that she was forced to be part of a porn film whereas she was promised an acting job and the police had investigated the case, which led them to a bungalow in Madh Island. They arrested 5 people from there and on further investigation, they found that the broadcasting was done from a UK production house and the executive, Umesh Kamat, was arrested in the matter.

Witnesses in Pornography Case

-Shilpa Shetty stated that, even though she was a part of the company for a while, she had no knowledge of the nature of the contents on HotShots app and she also stated that the brother-in-law of Raj Kundra was involved with the app and not her husband. She stated there is a difference between erotica and pornography and that the videos contained erotica, which only shows some intimate scenes not the actual video of intercourse.

Statements in Pornography Case

-The Actress Kangana Ranaut, who has been in the limelight due to her remarks on any issue, also voiced her opinions on the pornography case and stated that she would expose Bollywood with her upcoming production venture. She badly slammed Raj for his involvement in the case.

Author’s Views

-I believe that since pornography has been termed illegal in India, if the content qualifies to be porn, then the accused would be liable for the charges levelled against them. But before the case is decided, it is not fruitful if the media and internet give the judgement. 

Conclusion

-The case is going to be decided by the Court and the deciding factor would be whether the content would qualify as erotica or porn.

Key Takeaways

• Raj Kundra is businessman who has been involved in many controversies.
• He married the Actress Shilpa Shetty and has become a well-known personality in India.
• There are memes being circulated over the internet of how people tarnish the name of their father but in this case he tarnished the name of his wife, who has no knowledge of his involvement.
• He has been banned from IPL after he accepted his involvement in cricket betting.
• SEBI also charged him and his company of a fine for insider trading.
• The article elaborately discusses how Raj Kundra came into limelight and of his involvement in the recent pornography case.

Introduction

Raj Kundra is a British born Indian man who is renowned in the world for his various businesses. He started earning his first million when he came to Nepal and sold the pashmina shawls in Britain. He was married to Kavita Kundra but after their baby was born, they got divorced and there was a controversy on how Shilpa Shetty was responsible for the couple parting ways, to which both Shilpa and Raj clarified that the divorce had been filed before the duo even met and they had known each other only professionally and had turned out to be friends.

He came to know of the Actress Shilpa Shetty when she won the British show, Big Brother. He met her with the purpose of launching a perfume brand as she was very popular at that time. This meeting that happened, via the manager of Raj, was the very first moment from where the actions of Raj softened Shilpa’s heart. But when Raj approached her, she denied due to her not being able to move out of Bombay, and that is when Raj bought their Juhu house and proposed to her, to which she could not deny.

They tied the knot in 2009 and are proud parents of two children. The businessman has come to limelight numerous times in various controversies and he was arrested on July 19 and is currently in judicial custody till August 10.

Businesses

Raj Kundra started his first business of selling pashmina shawls from Nepal in Britain when he relocated to Nepal. He set up a company named Essential General Trading LLC in Dubai, which deals with precious metals, construction, mining and renewable energy projects.

He is involved in the production and distribution with Essential Sports and Media and private fund trading in equity markets with Iconic Investments. Raj Kundra had invested in the Rajasthan Royals team and on being questioned, he confessed about his involvement in the illegal betting through a friend. He was suspended from IPL and his shares were taken back by the team management.

He was also involved in the Gainbitcoin company, which was allegedly a part of the 2000 crore fraud case, in which he was accused of money laundering and fraud. He was also the ex-Director of Satyug Gold Pvt. Ltd. and was alleged in causing a scam by an Indian businessman.

Fine by SEBI

A preferential allotment of 5,00,000 equity shares was made by Viaan Industries and they were supposed to disclose the information within 2 days, which they did not. The disclosure was made only in 2019. A penalty of Rs. 3 lakhs was imposed on Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty and their company Viaan Industries for the violation of insider trading rules by the Securities Exchange Board of India. They made a delay of three years in disclosing the allotment of preferential shares.

Pornography Case

A woman had registered a case on February 4 that she was forced to be part of a porn film whereas she was promised an acting job and the police had investigated the case, which led them to a bungalow in Madh Island. They arrested 5 people from there and on further investigation, they found that the broadcasting was done from a UK production house and the executive, Umesh Kamat, was arrested in the matter.

The aspiring actresses were offered acting jobs in the web series and the script would be changed on the shoot day and if they denied doing the scenes, then they were threatened to pay the bills of preparation of the shooting. The videos were then uploaded on a mobile app and required subscription for watching the videos.

Umesh Kamat was Raj Kundra’s manager and this relation brought the focus of the police to Kundra. The Juhu house of Raj was searched and 48 TB of images and videos, most of which contained adult content, were seized from his house. The bank transactions with United Bank of Africa were found, which is suspected of being used for online betting.

The app, which broadcasted the videos, was run by Raj and there was a group for the same where the finances, production, distribution, etc. were discussed. There were emails which confirmed his involvement and also his plans that he intended to sell 121 videos for $1.2 million. Several transactions with company which uploads pornographic content were also found during investigation. He was charged under Sections 354 (C), 292 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act and under several sections of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, along with 11 others involved in the production and distribution of the images and videos.

Witnesses in Pornography Case

Shilpa Shetty stated that, even though she was a part of the company for a while, she had no knowledge of the nature of the contents on HotShots app and she also stated that the brother-in-law of Raj Kundra was involved with the app and not her husband. She stated there is a difference between erotica and pornography and that the videos contained erotica, which only shows some intimate scenes not the actual video of intercourse.

Gehna Vasisth, who was a co-accused in the case, was released on bail. She revealed in an interview that she and Raj were contemplating the creation of a new app called Bollyfame. She was meant to collaborate on a film with Shamita Shetty, and the app was supposed to have conversation programmes, interviews, and films, but no bold scenes. She also stressed that pornography and erotica should not be intermingled, and that the police and Courts will determine who the true criminals are in the case.

Poonam Pandey, in a video, opened up about her experience with the accused. When she had refused to re-sign the contract, she said he leaked her phone number and photos with the statement that she would strip for them. She received numerous calls and disturbing texts as a result. The initial contract was not renewed, and her videos were also exploited to generate attention. As a result, she received countless rude phone calls. She also encouraged other girls to come out and speak up if they were confronted with similar situations.

The actress Sagarika Shona Suman stated that she had received a call from Umesh Kamat who offered a web series and during the interview for the series, she was asked to give a nude interview and she refused. Even Puneet Kaur claimed to have recived a text from Raj about the app and she thought it a hacking case and ignored it.

Sherlyn Chopra had filed an FIR against Raj Kundra in April and stated that her manager got a call from Raj Kundra to discuss a proposal with her. He had showed up at her house and started kissing her forcefully even with her resistance. She cleared that she did not intend to get involved with a married man to which he had stated that he and his wife were having complications. She stated that she was pushed into the adult film industry by Raj and she was offered 30 lakhs for each project.

Statements in Pornography Case

The Actress Kangana Ranaut, who has been in the limelight due to her remarks on any issue, also voiced her opinions on the pornography case and stated that she would expose Bollywood with her upcoming production venture. She badly slammed Raj for his involvement in the case.

Singer Mika Singh in a video can be seen stating that though he has not used the app, he has seen the app and it seems simple. He also stated that Raj is a nice guy and he hoped for good to come out at the end of the case.

The producer, Rajan Jain, who recently worked with Shilpa Shetty on a film, showed his support for the actress and stated that he has no idea of how much she knew about the business but she would never do something like this.

Actress Shruti Gera also stated that Raj’s production house had approached her, which she had declined. A casting director had also approached her and discussed introducing her to Raj Kundra.

Author’s Views

I believe that since pornography has been termed illegal in India, if the content qualifies to be porn, then the accused would be liable for the charges levelled against them. But before the case is decided, it is not fruitful if the media and internet give the judgement. The wife of Raj Kundra is being subjected to abuse and there were numerous hashtags to boycott her recent film Hungama 2. A person who is not wrong should not be punished just because of their relation to the accused. If Raj Kundra is acquitted in the case, can we change the words that have been spoken against him and his wife? NO. So until the Court takes its action, people should not come to a conclusion. As it is said, someone’s freedom to speech and expression should not hamper the rights of another. So if you express your opinion, please do not target someone.

Conclusion

The case is going to be decided by the Court and the deciding factor would be whether the content would qualify as erotica or porn. Raj is kept in judicial custody and the hearing is posted for 10 August. Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty have been in the headlines and Shilpa Shetty has been subjected to numerous words from the netizens. She has filed a defamation case against the media houses.