Shilpa Shetty finally finds relief over Richard Gere kiss saga after a 16-Year legal battle

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty recently received some relief as a Mumbai sessions court dismissed an obscenity case against her. For the unversed, the issue was related to an incident over a decade ago, when Richard Gere, an American actor and activist, had kissed Shilpa publicly during an AIDS awareness event in India in 2007.

The public display of affection between the two actors led to widespread protests across India, with many people considering it obscene and disrespectful to Indian culture. Several cases were filed against both actors under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

After a prolonged legal battle, the case was moved to Mumbai. While the Metropolitan Magistrate discharged the matter against Shilpa, observing that she seemed to be a victim of Gere's act. However, the Rajasthan police filed an appeal against this dismissal, which led to the case being transferred to the Mumbai sessions court.

Shilpa's lawyer, Prashant Patil, asked for the dismissal of the appeal, arguing that the case had been pending for too long and that there was no evidence of obscenity on Shilpa's part. On Tuesday, the Mumbai sessions court dismissed the criminal revision filed by the state, ending the 16-year-old case.

The dismissal of the case was a relief for Shilpa, who had faced severe criticism and backlash from the public and the media at the time of the incident. For the unversed, many people had burnt effigies of Shilpa and Gere on the streets and demanded their arrest.

Shilpa Shetty will soon be seen in an action-packed avatar in Rohit Shetty's helmed Indian Police Force. This web series also features Siddharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi in lead roles. Besides this show, Shilpa has also signed up for 'KD- The Devil', wherein she will be essaying the role of Satyavati. The film also stars Dhruva Sarja, Shilpa Shetty, V Ravichandran and Sanjay Dutt.