Why hasn’t section 370 been invoked against Gehana: HC

The Bombay High Court questioned the prosecution as to why Section 370 (whoever receives or detains a person against his/her will or any person as a slave) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not invoked against Gehana Vasisth in an alleged porn film racket case. Justice Sandeep Shinde raised the query on Wednesday, when the prosecution informed that Vasisth’s custody was not required as of now.

The HC was hearing an application filed by Vasisth. It sought anticipatory bail in the porn film racket case in which businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband, Raj Kundra, has been arrested.

Earlier, the police had said that it needed Vasisth’s custody to probe the money trail and complicity of the other accused. However, on Wednesday, additional public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde said it won’t insist on her custody if she cooperates and visits the police station for questioning. The police require some documents from her, such as the company agreement papers and the details of various artists.

Three First Information Reports (FIR) have been registered against Vasisth for making pornographic content and uploading them on certain OTT platforms. The third FIR was filed after Vasisth was released on bail in connection with an incident of porn filmmaking in February, 2020. When asked if the prosecution was going to invoke section 370, Shinde said that they were “intending to” do so.