Mumbai court discharged Shilpa Shetty in 2007 obscenity case where Richard Gere, Hollywood actor kissed her
Akankshya Mukherjee – Mumbai Uncensored, 22nd January 2022 :
Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, Ms Ketki Chavan discharged Shilpa Shetty on 18th January 2022. In 2007, both the actors came together for an AIDS awareness programme in Rajasthan. On the stage the Hollywood actor, Richard Gere kissed the actress Shilpa Shetty on her cheeks causing a stir.
The court stated in its order “It seems that the accused Shilpa Shetty is the victim of the alleged act of accused no. 1 (Richard Gere). Not a single element of any of the alleged offence is being satisfied in the complaint”. The kissing incident evoked strong protests in several cities of India. Following the complaints, cases were registered against both Richard and Shilpa under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act for obscenity.
Immediately after the outcry, the Hollywood actor Richard Gere apologised to his ‘Indian friends’ for ‘offending’ them through a statement. Shilpa’s then spokesperson, Mr Dale Bhagwagar commented on the apology through a release, saying “It is sad that Gere had to apologize for no fault of his. All he had done was enacted a scene from his film Shall We Dance to entertain the truckers at the AIDS awareness event. It was a natural cute and loving impromptu gesture by Gere which was blown out of proportion due to improper projection by the gossip-hungry television media”.
The case was then transferred to Mumbai from the court of magistrate first class in Rajasthan on the orders of the Supreme Court in 2017. In its order, the Mumbai court held that none of the news reports annexed to the complaint demonstrated common intention. One of the allegations against Shilpa is that she did not protest when she was kissed by the co-accused Gere. The order also said “This by no stretch of imagination makes her a conspirator or perpetrator of any crime”.
