Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress cleared of obscenity charges after 15 years of the kissing scandal of Richard Gere!!!

Posted by Married Wiki Bio Last Updated: October 31, 2023 | In Relationship

World knows what a slow legal system exists in India. The obscenity case against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and Hollywood star, Richard Gere was in the Indian court since 2007. Now last week, this trivial case was dismissed. The judge cleared Shilpa of all charges. The religiously fanatic petitioner had wasted a valuable time of the court and national money when that time could well have been utilized to sort out some more urgent cases.

Shilpa Shetty cleared of obscenity accusations of 2007

Inside Content (Biography)

In 2007 for an AIDS awareness event, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and Hollywood star Richard Gere were on stage. At that time, Richard Gere planted multiple kisses on her cheek. The Hindu right-wing groups took offence and put up a case against both stars for insulting ‘Indian values’.

The case against Shilpa remained in the court for the last 15 years!!! Now, last week it was disposed off in a Bombay court. The court order was made public. The Judge stated that the case against Shilpa was baseless. She was a victim of unwarranted amorous advances from Richard Gere. The order said:

“It seems that… Shilpa Shetty is the victim of alleged act of accused No. 1 (Richard Gere),”

Shilpa has yet not publicly responded to this court order. Her lawyer had said that the whole case started from the fact that Shilpa did not protest when the co-accused kissed her. The lawyer added:

“This by no stretch of imagination makes her a conspirator or perpetrator of any crime,”

The incident of 2007

The incident had happened at a 2007 AIDS awareness event. Many celebrities were present on the occasion and Shilpa Shetty was on the stage with Hollywood A-lister Richard Gere. At that moment, Richard kissed Shilpa’s hand, then brought her close and hugged her tightly. Later, he planted multiple kisses on her cheek.

The fanatic religious groups of India saw the video footage and it sparked a firestorm there. They accused both stars of causing a ‘grievous insult of values’ of the ‘land of Kama sutra’.

Shilpa at that time had said that the fanatic-induced uproar was unwarranted and Richard’s actions in no way eroded Indian values.

Richard Gere and his case

The Hollywood actor, Richard had apologized for the exuberant display stating that it was an attempt to demonstrate that kissing is a safe activity and that it d does not lead to spread of AIDS. The charges against Richard were quickly shelved. He is a Buddhist and in 2010 was given permission to visit India and meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama in Dharamshala.

Shilpa gained international fame when she appeared on the show Celebrity Big Brother on British TV. This was also in 2007 and had suffered racist comments and bullying on the show. But she had won that season of CBB.