Raj Kundra, entrepreneur and husband of actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, was granted relief in the pornography case on Tuesday. The Supreme Court granted him and four others anticipatory bail in the case. Others who were granted relief by the apex court include actors Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey. An FIR was filed against the five for allegedly distributing pornographic videos.

On Tuesday, a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna also directed all the accused to cooperate in the investigation. “Having heard the counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the petitioners may be granted anticipatory bail,” the bench said.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted Kundra interim protection from arrest in the case. He was arrested in July 2021, after an FIR was registered against Raj and four others by a woman who approached the police and made certain allegations. The case was transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch. Raj was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 292 and 293 (related to obscene and indecent advertisements and displays) and sections of the Information Technology Act and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. The report also named Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey as co-accused.

Kundra was released on bail later in the year. His lawyers claimed that he was in no way connected to content creation, publication or transmission of alleged illegal videos.

Since his bail, Kundra has kept a low profile and only appears in public wearing full face masks. In September, he reacted to the case with a social media post. Sharing a picture of himself, Raj captioned the post, “One Year Today released from #ArthurRoad Its a matter of time Justice will be served! The truth will be out soon!”