Court suspends obscenity charges against Gere
Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:49am EDT
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court suspended on Friday legal
proceedings against Richard Gere, who faced obscenity charges for publicly
kissing Bollywood star ****lpa Shetty last year.
Gere made headlines when he arched over and kissed ****lpa Shetty, winner
of
the British reality television show "Celebrity Big Brother," several times
on the cheek at an anti-AIDS show in New Delhi.
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and Justice R. V. Raveendran
stayed
the arrest warrants against Gere and granted permission for him to travel
to
and from India.
The court criticized the complainant for his "moral policing" and
observed,
"such complaints are publicity hunting. You are bringing a bad name to
this
country."
Similar legal proceedings against Shetty were suspended last year.
A devout Buddhist, Gere is involved with charities dealing with AIDS and
orphans in India and often visits the country.
(Re****ting by R.Venkataraman; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Jerry
Norton)
