Mumbai: This is not the first time that businessman Raj Kundra, who is also actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband has been embroiled in a legal controversy. He was arrested on Monday for allegedly creating pornographic films and posting them on mobile apps. Here is a glimpse into his brush with the law in the past.
Hit and run case
In February this year, the Cubban Park traffic police reportedly registered a hit and run case after a speeding Audi rammed into an auto-rickshaw and a few other vehicles. The police then traced the Audi R8 to Raj Kundra, whose manager informed that he’d sold the car to a dealer two months ago.
“We identified the owner through RTO officials in Mumbai as Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra. His manager told us that the car was sold in January to a car dealer in Bengaluru. The vehicle’s papers were still in Kundra’s name and were yet to be changed,” the police was quoted as saying by The Quint.
The police later identified that the car dealer Mohammed Sadab was at the wheel and was booked for reckless driving.
Malotia Textiles Cheating Case
In April 2017, a criminal case was lodged against Raj Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty in a Thane police station for allegedly cheating the owner of a textile firm of Rs 24 lakh. The case was filed under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
The FIR claimed that Big Deals, a company of which Raj and Shilpa are directors, allegedly sold bed sheets through TV and after collecting the money on behalf of Malotia textiles, didn’t pay the manufacturers, the report added.
Banned from IPL for life
Raj Kundra was the former owner of Rajasthan Royals. He was banned for life from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for his alleged involvement in betting. In 2013, the Delhi police arrested RR players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankit Chavan for alleged match-fixing. After that, RR was suspended from the tournament for two seasons. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was also suspended for the same time period after the investigation revealed that owner Gurunath Meiyappan was also involved. He became a persona non grata for the BCCI.
Raj Kundra later moved Supreme Court asking for the ban to be lifted after the Delhi Police gave him a clean chit.
In 2017, BCCI said it would not allow any Indian cricketers to participate in the second edition of the charity celebrity football match Celebrity Classico led by Virat Kohli and actor Abhishek Bachchan if Raj Kundra was featured.
Bitcoin money laundering case
On June 5, 2018, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Raj Kundra in connection with a money-laundering probe related to the bitcoin transactions case.
Iqbal Mirchi money laundering case
On October 28, 2019, Raj Kundra was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering probe against gangster Iqbal Mirchi and others. The agency was reportedly looking into Raj Kundra’s purported dealing with a Ranjeet Bindra and a firm called Bastian Hospitality.
Delay in TDS payment
In October 2021, Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty were summoned by the Ballard Pier magistrate’s court in two separate cases of delay in tax deducted at source (TDS) payments by the company Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd. The company’s chief financial officer was also sent a summons.
Special public prosecutor Amit Munde had told the court that the delayed payments amounted to Rs 88.8 lakh TDS in 2015-16, and Rs 58.8 lacs TDS in 2016-17. In response to the show-case notices, Shilpa Shetty Kundra had said that all activities were handled by the managing director and other managerial personnel and the couple were not aware of TDS defaults, The Quint reported.
ALSO READ: Porn Films Case: Actress Shilpa Shetty’s Husband Raj Kundra Sent To Police Custody
