Richard Gere publicly kisses Shilpa Shetty after Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty filed an obscenity case against her. He was later acquitted by a Mumbai court. The incident happened during a promotional event in Rajasthan in 2007.
On Monday, January 24, a Mumbai court discharged Shilpa Shetty, who had been accused of indecency and obscenity during an incident in which co-accused Richard Gere had publicly kissed her. During a promotional event in Rajasthan in 2007, an incident occurred. The Hollywood star and AIDS awareness campaigner Shilpa was charged with three counts of public kissing in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in 2007.
The Metropolitan Magistrate Ketaki Chavan concluded, based on a review of the original complaint, that the actress was a victim of the element of the alleged act of accused number one, Richard Gere.
Following the presentation of the police report and supporting documents, the Magistrate found Shilpa Shetty’s charges unfounded. This resulted in Shilpa Shetty being discharged from the charges.
“Not a single element of any of the alleged offence is being satisfied in the complaint. Moreover, none of the papers annexed with the final report discloses act of present accused so as to bring her within the purview of Section 34 of IPC (common intention).” the order observed.
Upon learning of this incident, Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere were charged with an offense, and an FIR was registered against them by the Judicial Magistrate in Mundawar, Rajasthan. Among other provisions of the Information Technology and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, the accused was charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 292, 293, and 294 (obscenity).
The Supreme Court granted Shilpa Shetty’s request to transfer the case to Mumbai in 2017, and the complaint was heard by the Metropolitan Magistrate at Ballard Pier, Mumbai. Through Advocate Madhukar Dalvi, the actress filed for discharge under Section 239 (discharge after considering the police report and documents) and Section 245 (discharge after considering evidence) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
According to Shilpa’s applications, the accusation against her is that she did not protest when Richard Gere kissed her, which by no stretch of the imagination makes her a criminal or a conspirator.
Under Section 239, her application was approved, but under Section 245 her application was rejected since there is no provision for discharge in a summons triable case.
