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Synopsis

Actor Shilpa Shetty has been granted relief as a sessions court in Mumbai recently dismissed a criminal revision application filed against her by the State of Maharashtra in the Richard Gere kissing case.

The revision had been filed against a magistrate's order that had discharged Shetty in the 2007 obscenity case that revolved around an event where Hollywood star Richard Gere had kissed her.

The Sessions Judge SC Jadhav passed the order on Monday stating, "Criminal revision stands dismissed and disposed of accordingly."

The kissing incident had taken place during an AIDS awareness programme held in Rajasthan and had hit national headlines. One of these cases was filed in Rajasthan and the actor was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act.

Shetty had pleaded to transfer the Rajasthan case to Mumbai, and the Supreme Court allowed it in 2017. The case was then heard by the Metropolitan Magistrate at Ballard Pier in Mumbai. In January 2022, the magistrate's court discharged Shetty after observing that she seemed to be the victim of Gere's act.

However, the prosecution had filed a revision application before the sessions court, claiming that the magistrate's order was "illegal, bad in law and against the principle of natural justice" and that a case was made out to frame charges against the accused. 

Shetty's response, filed through advocate Prashant Patil, said that the magistrate court's order was well-reasoned and based upon the guidelines of the Supreme Court and that the revision application needed to be dismissed with heavy costs.

Case Title: State of Maharashtra vs Shilpa Shetty