On Monday, a Mumbai sessions court dismissed charges against Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty from a case of obscenity filed against her in Rajasthan in 2007 after Hollywood actor Richard Gere publicly kissed her at a promotional event. The State of Maharashtra had filed a revision application challenging the magistrate's order, which was dismissed by the sessions judge SC Jadhav. The accused were booked for offenses under Sections 292, 293, 294 of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of Information Technology and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

Shilpa's plea to transfer the case to Mumbai was allowed by the Supreme Court in 2017, and the case was heard by the metropolitan magistrate at Ballard Pier, Mumbai. In January 2022, Magistrate Ketaki Chavan discharged Shetty, opining that she seemed to have been a victim of Gere's act, who is the main accused in the case. The State of Maharashtra challenged the order before the sessions court, claiming that the order was illegal and against the principles of natural justice, and that Shetty's act of allowing herself to be kissed in public brought her within the purview of the offence of "obscene act" under Section 294 IPC.

Shilpa's lawyer, Prashant Patil, opposed the state's appeal and argued that the only allegation against her was that she did not protest when she was kissed by the "co-accused", Richard Gere. He also contended that it did not make her a conspirator or perpetrator of any crime. Patil sought dismissal of the appeal filed against her discharge in the case. A day ago, the sessions judge SC Jadhav dismissed a revision application filed by State of Maharashtra challenging the magistrate’s order.