Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was discharged from the obscenity case which was filed against her in 2007 after Hollywood superstar Richard Gere publicly hugged and kissed her during a promotional event in Rajasthan.
The incident took place back in April 15, 2007 causing a stir in the country and several protests were staged across the nation including Varanasi, Bhopal, Kanpur, Delhi and Mumbai. Following the controversial public kiss, three cases were filed in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh against Shilpa and Richard and the duo was accused of ‘obscenity and indecency.’
And now after almost 15 years, Shilpa was discharged from the case by a Mumbai court.
According to a report in Live Law: Shilpa was granted relief in the case by Metropolitan Magistrate Ketaki Chavan. “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," Magistrate Ketaki Chavan observed.
The actress had filed for discharge under Section 239 (discharge after considering police report and documents) and Section 245 (discharge after considering evidence) of the Code of Criminal Procedure through Advocate Madhukar Dalvi.
Her applications stated that the accusation against her was “only that she did not protest when she was kissed by the co-accused Richard Gere” which by no stretch of imagination made her a conspirator or perpetrator to the crime.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Shipla is currently judging the reality TV show, India’s Got Talent alongside Kirron Kher, Manoj Muntashir and Badshah.
In movies, she was last seen in 'Hungama 2' with Paresh Rawal, Meezaan and Pranitha Subhash in lead roles and will be next seen in Sabbir Khan's 'Nikamma' co-starring Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia in lead roles.