Kiss controversy: Court issues warrants against Shetty, Gere

JAIPUR: A court on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Hollywood star Richard Gere and actress Shilpa Shetty for their public kiss during an AIDS awareness programme in the capital early this month.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jaipur city, Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants on a PIL filed by a Jaipur resident Poonam Chand Bhandari.

Gere's kiss on Bollywood actor Shetty's cheeks during an AIDS awareness programme had evoked strong protests in several cities

Activists, mostly of Hindu outfits, in Varanasi, Bhopal, Kanpur, Indore, Delhi and Mumbai burnt effigies of Gere and Shetty to give vent to their anger over the actor's act on stage at the programme in Delhi, calling it indecent behaviour.