Bollywood's Shilpa Shetty acquitted of 'obscenity' 15 years after 'kiss' with Richard Gere

Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty is finally free of the obscenity charges filed against her in 2007 when Hollywood actor Richard Gere kissed her on the hand and cheek at a charity event in India.

Fifteen years ago at an AIDS awareness event, Gere was filmed publicly kissing Shetty's hand and cheek on stage. The move irked many radical Hindu groups, which resulted in protests calling for the Pretty Woman actor to apologise not only to Shetty but the entire country.

Years ago, a court had issued arrest warrants for both parties on charges including "obscenity" and "indecency". The charges were dropped against Gere and he was later allowed to enter into India. However, Shetty's case continued until until Jan 25 when a Mumbai judge decided to drop charges against the Hungama 2 actor and called them "groundless", according to Deadline.

The Shetty-Gere case wasn't the first time the Indian actor had been accused of obscenity. A year before the much-talked about incident, the actor was criticised for pictures that were printed in a newspaper of her and fellow Bollywood actor Reema Sen.

At the moment, Shetty is also dealing with a pornography case filed against her husband Raj Kundra who had allegedly been producing and broadcasting pornographic films online. The businessman was earlier banned from cricket-related activities over match-fixing charges.