Indian court orders arrest of Gere, Shetty over kiss

Indian court orders arrest of Gere, Shetty over kiss

INDIA: An Indian judge ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on Thursday over a hug and kiss at an AIDS awareness event.

The arrest warrants were issued in the Rajasthan state capital of Jaipur following a public interest plea filed last week by resident Poonam Chand Bhandari accusing the pair of obscenity, court officials said.

“Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Dinesh Gupta issued the (arrest) orders,” a court official told AFP from Jaipur, 375 kilometres (232 miles) from Jodhpur.

Gere embraced the 31-year-old Shetty — winner of Britain’s Celebrity Big Brother reality show — and planted several kisses on her cheek in front of thousands of onlookers at the AIDS function in the Indian capital New Delhi earlier this month.

The incident triggered a public storm in India, known for its chaste public behaviour despite Bollywood’s sexually suggestive song-and-dance routines.

There was no immediate comment available from either of the stars on the arrest warrants.

The kissing incident triggered protests across the country with demonstrators burning effigies of Gere.

News reports have identified the Jaipur complainant as a lawyer and had said he had accused the duo of committing “an obscene act” in a public place.

Another complaint was filed in court earlier this month against the stars in in Ghaziabad, a satellite city of New Delhi. The complainants’ lawyer Ramautar Gupta said at the time, “It is all indecency and nudity, which our society cannot tolerate.”

Obscenity is punishable by a maximum of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 rupees (45 dollars) in India.

Radical Hindus burned effigies of the 57-year-old Gere in India’s entertainment hub of Mumbai and organised street rallies in New Delhi after the actor’s affectionate display.

The opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party had condemned the incident, saying “such a public display is not part of Indian tradition.”

Gere, who left India soon after the event, is a frequent visitor as a follower of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in the country in exile, besides in his capacity as an AIDS awareness campaigner.

Shetty had appealed for calm after the kissing incident, telling reporters that Gere had asked her to say he was “sorry if he has hurt the sentiments of Indian people.”

“Nothing of that sort happened about which I should feel bad or any other Indian should feel bad,” said Shetty.

Explaining what lead Gere to kiss her on the stage, she said they were discussing his recent film “Shall We Dance.”

“I was telling him that he was really good in the film and we were joking about it. In an impromptu move, he did a dance step from the film with me, kissing me on my cheek, thanking me,” Shetty said, according to the Press Trust of India.

Gere was only seeking to entertain the audience and communicate in a Bollywood style because he did not speak Hindi, she added.

Meanwhile Legal experts in India ridiculed the court’s obscenity charges against Gere and Shilpa Shetty for kissing in public, saying Friday that the case makes Indian judges seem like Taliban morality police.

“The order is unsustainable and makes us look ridiculous,” India’s former attorney general, Soli Sorabjee, told the Times of India newspaper. “Magistrates should not act like Taliban moral police,” he added.

Another senior legal expert, Dushyant Dave, told the Times of India that the charges were “an act of judicial indecency.”

“This is only for cheap publicity and the magistrate and lawyer should be restrained,” Dave was quoted as saying.

Shetty, who was on a religious pilgrimage in southern India and had not yet received a court summons, was upset by news of the charges, spokesman Dale Bhagwagar said.

“She does hurt, she does feel low,” Bhagwagar told The Associated Press. “She feels she is being constantly targeted, but anyone who knows her well knows she can’t be put down.”

“Shilpa wishes that people would focus on the real issue, AIDS awareness, and not three pecks on her cheek,” he said.

New Delhi, Friday, AFP, AP