The city of Madurai, famous for its temple of Goddess Meenakshi, is now getting quick notoriety as its moral captains are hauling movie stars before the courts on charges of obscenity. After Khushboo, Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen, it is now the turn of Sushmita Sen to come under the spotlight, with the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court issuing notice to the former Miss Universe on an advocate’s PIL accusing her of making “lewd sexual comments” in a television interview.
In his petition, Girish Kumar alleged that Sushmita had in an interview to a TV channel on October 7 declared that “no Indian has chastity or virginity any more, and having a premarital or postmarital affair is not wrong in society nowadays.” The interview was picked up for translated publication by a Tamil newspaper the following day, said the petitioner, seeking action against her under Sections 292, 292B, 293 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with “obscenity and lewd sexual comments”, and Sections 499 and 500 (defamation); besides Sections 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act and Sections 2, 3 and 6 of the Young Persons Harmful Act.
Admitting the PIL, Justice A. Selvam has ordered notice to be issued to Ms Sen, returnable on January 7, 2008. This case has been clubbed with another against the actress for her media interview in October last year, in which she allegedly stated that “enquiring from a man whether or not he is married before falling in love with him is beyond comprehension.” Her interview had constituted a “direct insult to womanhood”, said the petitioner, Mr Kumar, arguing that it was “misleading young men and women.”
A lower court in Madurai had issued arrest warrants against Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen in June last year on PILs accusing them of “posing in an obscene manner for photographs”. The pictures were printed in Tamil Murasu, an eveninger owned by the Dayanidhi Maran family in its issues between December 2005 and January 2006.
Actress Khushboo got a court warrant for “casting aspersions on the judiciary” while supporting Shilpa and Reema in media interviews. Not so long ago, the onetime heartthrob of Tamil moviegoers was busy hopping from one court to another answering charges of obscenity after she told an interviewer that casual sex was okay as long as the partners took precautions.
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