On Monday, a Bombay sessions court upheld a metropolitan magistrate's ruling dismissing Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty in an obscenity charge filed against her after Hollywood actor Richard Gere openly kissed her at a charity event in Rajasthan in 2007.

The kissing event occurred at an AIDS awareness session in Rajasthan and made national news, with some considering it disgusting and an insult to the country's traditions.

The accused were charged with violating Indian Criminal Code Sections 292, 293, and 294 (obscenity), as well as laws of the Information Technology and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

The magistrate's court released Shetty in January 2022, stating that she appeared to be the victim of Gere's actions.

It further claimed that Shetty's act of allowing herself to be kissed in public qualified her for the charge of "obscene act" under Section 294 IPC.

The State of Maharashtra contested this ruling in the sessions court. The State alleged that the magistrate erred in releasing the accused and that the ruling was unlawful and violated natural justice principles.