Greeva Garg –
Bollywood Actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to restrain the publication of defamatory content by media houses and social media against her amid Raj Kundra’s arrest.
“Media houses uploaded the impugned articles with an intent to increase their readership by sensationalizing news, and reporting false statements concerning her and the criminal investigation that is ongoing against her husband Raj Kundra,” Shilpa’s plea states.
Shilpa has added 29 defamatory parties to the plea, in order to take the defamatory content uploaded against her and also asked them to issue an unconditional apology in respect to the alleged content posted. The defendants include parties such as Free Press Journal, Facebook, Instagram, Google etc.
“Defendants be jointly and severally ordered and decreed to pay the Applicant an amount of Rs. 25 Crores as and by way of damages together with interest thereon @ 18% p.a. from the date of filing of the suit till payment and/or realization and/or for other interim/ad-interim reliefs as prayed for in the Plaint and the captioned Application,” the petition stated.
Shilpa alleged the media houses of invading her privacy and personal life by statements concerning her life and relationship with her husband.
The straightforward act of defaming Shilpa by the media houses followed the arrest of Shilpa’s husband Raj Kundra in an alleged pornography racket case. Raj Kundra is currently in prison.
Kundra was arrested on July 19 and booked under sections 354C (Voyeurism), 292 (sale of obscene content), 420(cheating) of the IPC and Sections 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) of the Information Technology Act and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
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