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Richard Gere's arrest warrant outrages legal experts
The Times of India ^ | 27 Apr, 2007 0015hrs IST | The Times of India

Posted on 04/26/2007 2:17:21 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick

JAIPUR/NEW DELHI: A Jaipur additional chief judicial magistrate on Thursday ordered the arrest of Hollywood actor Richard Gere for landing a peck on the cheeks of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, triggering an outrage among the country's top legal experts who called it a "cheap publicity stunt" that bordered on "judicial indecency".

The magistrate, Dinesh Gupta, reacting to a private complaint filed by advocate Poonam Chand Bhandari, watched a CD of an AIDS awareness function in Delhi at which Gere hugged and gave Shilpa a peck, as shown by a TV channel, to pronounce that the act was "sexually erotic" and "indecent".

Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee, who is one of the most respected legal luminaries of the country, took little time to describe Gupta's ruling as reminiscent of the "Taliban moral police".

Finding flaws in Gupta's ruling, other top legal experts too called it yet another instance of "hounding orders on frivolous complaints". They said the Indian judiciary would become a laughing stock in the world and urged the high court to take suo motu notice of the order and quash it.

"Judicial magistrates should not behave like Taliban moral police," said Sorabjee. He said the magistrate, acting on an attention-grabbing complaint, had completely overlooked the "clear distinction between obscenity and vulgarity."

"The order is totally unsustainable and makes us look ridiculous," he said. Senior advocates Mukul Rohtagi, K T S Tulsi and Dushyant Dave felt the public peck at the AIDS awareness programme was not an act to deprave the morality of the nation. While Rohtagi felt that the magistrate was "trigger-happy", Dave termed the order as an act of "judicial indecency". Tulsi said,"The issuance of arrest warrant is contrary to all judicial norms. A consensual kiss between two adults can never be said to be an offence."

Magistrate Gupta found the episode objectionable and in violation of sections 294 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code(IPC). Section 294 says:

"Whoever to the annoyance of others does any obscene act in any public place shall be punished with imprisonment of three months or with a fine or both."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gere; india; richardgere
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1 posted on 04/26/2007 2:17:22 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick
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To: CarrotAndStick
"The order is totally unsustainable and makes us look ridiculous," he said.

It would seem that way.
2 posted on 04/26/2007 2:19:12 PM PDT by kinoxi (Illiud Latine dici non potest.)
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To: CarrotAndStick
....pronounce that the act was "sexually erotic"

A kiss on the cheek? These guys need to get out more.

3 posted on 04/26/2007 2:20:19 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: kinoxi

but didn’t Gere make you look ridiculous anyway ?


4 posted on 04/26/2007 2:20:19 PM PDT by advertising guy (If computer skills named us, I'd be back-space delete.)
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To: CarrotAndStick

Seems that if advocate Poonam Chand Bhandari finds a peck on the cheek so “sexually erotic” and “indecent”, he may have a little issue of his own. I’m thinking he’s something of a minute man.


5 posted on 04/26/2007 2:20:46 PM PDT by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll.)
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To: arclightzero; Polybius; Maelstorm; untenured; jdm; bedolido

Pinging...


6 posted on 04/26/2007 2:21:00 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: Mr. Mojo
This from the civilization that gave us the Kama Sutra...
7 posted on 04/26/2007 2:21:33 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: advertising guy

If he didn’t the gerbil on the string did for sure.


8 posted on 04/26/2007 2:21:58 PM PDT by Slump Tester ( What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: advertising guy
Of course he did. I’m so irritated I could just cry!
9 posted on 04/26/2007 2:23:19 PM PDT by kinoxi (Illiud Latine dici non potest.)
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To: CarrotAndStick

Just imagine what they would have done if he dropped a gerbil


10 posted on 04/26/2007 2:25:03 PM PDT by Popman (New American Dream: Move to Mexican, cross the border, become an illegal. free everything)
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To: CarrotAndStick
India Judge - Dinesh GUPTA....
CNN Medical Expert = Dr. S. GUPTA

Hmmmmm.......
Vewwwy intewesting....

11 posted on 04/26/2007 2:25:25 PM PDT by Wings-n-Wind (The answers remain available; Wisdom is obtained by asking all the right questions!)
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To: CarrotAndStick
I'm surprised it wasn't Shilpa Shetty pressing charges.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)

LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

12 posted on 04/26/2007 2:25:55 PM PDT by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: CarrotAndStick

Somewhere out there, a gerbil cries out for justice.


13 posted on 04/26/2007 2:26:08 PM PDT by AnnGora (E-Harmony.com reject)
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To: CarrotAndStick
Gere should have kept his tulips in his pocketah!
14 posted on 04/26/2007 2:26:43 PM PDT by Candor7
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To: LonePalm

“I’m surprised it wasn’t Shilpa Shetty pressing charges.”

Presumably, you saw the video? It doesn’t look like anyone else here did....

(I saw it)


15 posted on 04/26/2007 2:28:11 PM PDT by Vn_survivor_67-68
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To: CarrotAndStick

Personally, I wouldn’t be outraged, if they made him a eunuch.


16 posted on 04/26/2007 2:28:29 PM PDT by mutley
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To: Wings-n-Wind

Sanjeev Gupta is of Indian origin, IIRC.


17 posted on 04/26/2007 2:29:01 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: Wings-n-Wind
India Judge - Dinesh GUPTA.... CNN Medical Expert = Dr. S. GUPTA

You need to get out more - the name "Gupta" is one of the most common among Indians.

18 posted on 04/26/2007 2:30:00 PM PDT by Yossarian (Everyday, somewhere on the globe, somebody is pushing the frontier of stupidity...)
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To: CarrotAndStick
landing a peck on the cheeks

Some pecker that Richard Gere is:

And such a shy, demur, creature she is:


19 posted on 04/26/2007 2:30:50 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("The military Mission has long since been accomplished" -- Harry Reid, April 23, 2007)
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To: Wings-n-Wind

There are about 100 million people in the world with the last name Gupta.


20 posted on 04/26/2007 2:31:16 PM PDT by July 4th (A vacant lot cancelled out my vote for Bush.)
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