PTI
New Delhi, May 15: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings by a local court in Rajasthan against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on the kissing controversy involving Hollywood star Richard Gere.
While staying the proceedings, a Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan also issued notices to the parties on Shetty's petition seeking transfer all the cases related to the controversy against her to Mumbai.
The Bench also stayed the order of the local court which restrained the actress from going overseas.
Shetty had on Monday moved the Apex Court seeking transfer to a Mumbai court, the criminal proceedings initiated against her in connection with the kissing row involving Hollywood star Richard Gere.
The actress while seeking quashing of the criminal cases registered against her in the judicial magistrate courts of Jodhpur, Ghaziabad and Mundawar (Alwar) had also sought a stay on the proceedings until the transfer plea was decided.
In her petition, the actress claimed that the April 15 incident was wrongly projected by the media resulting in the filing of private complaints before the magistrates at Jodhpur, Mundawar and Ghaziabad by some local lawyers.
The actress apprehended that she might be served with summons/warrants by the respective magistrates and hence sought transfer of the cases to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai, where she is domiciled.
The kissing incident during an AIDS awareness programme at the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in the capital last month had evoked strong protests in several cities.
The Kiss and the aftermath:
Shilpa Shetty Moves SC on Gere Kissing Row
Will This Picture Create Yet Another Controversy?
Shilpa Shetty Raps Indian 'Lunatic Fringe' for Gere Kiss Fuss
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