Show that notice under Section 41A of CrPC was issued: Bombay High Court directs Mumbai Police in Raj Kundra plea

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Mumbai Police to respond to the plea filed by businessman Raj Kundra assailing his remand to police custody and all subsequent orders passed by the Mumbai Magistrate Court in relation to a pornographic film racket case..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for Kundra, argued that the custody of Kundra was illegal as only two offences were non-bailable amongst all offences he was arraigned for.He argued that while further investigation may have been going on after filing of chargesheet, it could have been conducted without taking Kundra into custody. He also mused as to why summons under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) could not be issued to interrogate Kundra before arresting him..Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai, appearing for the Mumbai Police, informed the Court that a notice under Section 41 A had in fact been issued to the accused.To this, Ponda responded that the notice was a mere formality and was not issued in advance. .Justice AS Gadkari at this point asked Pai to put down her submissions in a reply and adjourned the matter for hearing on Thursday. .Kundra has been charged for offences under Sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material) under the Indian Penal Code, Sections 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) under the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.He was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Monday and produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade, who remanded him to police custody till July 23, 2021,which was extended till July 27.On Tuesday, the Magistrate remanded Kundra to judicial custody for 14 days..Kundra's petition filed through Parinam Law Associates said that the maximum punishment attracted by the offences charged against him are upto 7 years.It was submitted that it was completely illegal to arrest him without complying with the requirement of law and the guidelines in the Arnesh Kumar judgment of the Supreme Court..Heavy reliance was placed on guidelines issued in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, which the Chief Justice of India highlighted in the Re: Contagion of Covid-19 Virus in Prisons judgment..Kundra contended that the Magistrate failed to appreciate that serving a notice under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure is mandatory as per the judgment of Arnesh Kumar, especially in light of the Supreme Court's direction in In Re: Contagion.Along with directions to quash the orders of custody, Kundra sought his immediate release.