A Mumbai court has acquitted Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in a nearly 15-year-old obscenity case. The court in its judgment has said that Shilpa appears to be a victim of the act of Hollywood actor Richard Gere. Gere had kissed Shilpa on the cheeks at a public event, following which a case of obscenity was filed against both of them. Metropolitan Magistrate Ketki Chavan’s court acquitted Shilpa in the case on January 18. The detailed order in this regard became available on Monday. Shilpa and Richard participated in an awareness program against AIDS in Rajasthan in 2007. During this, Richard had kissed on the cheeks of Shilpa on the stage, due to which there were many protests across the country.
A case of obscenity was registered against Shilpa and Richard under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act. The case was transferred from a Rajasthan court to Mumbai in 2017 on the orders of the Supreme Court. The Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Mumbai said, “It appears that accused Shilpa Shetty was a victim of the alleged act of accused number one (Richard Gere) in the case.” Not a single point of the allegation made in the complaint satisfies.’
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Shilpa was accused of not protesting when Richard kissed her on her cheeks. In its judgment, the court said, “No media report attached to the complaint shows a common intention.” This does not in any way make her a conspirator or guilty of any crime. (Language)