Sonali exonerated by a Mumbai court 12th Aug 2004
11.45 IST
By ApunKaChoice Bureau
A local court in Mumbai on Thursday exonerated Sonali Bendre from charges of hurting the religious feelings of the majority community by wearing a dress that had words 'Om' written on it.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate BA Shelar of Esplanade court exonerated Bendre of the charges after her counsel Shrikant Bhat told the court that the dress was worn without any deliberate or malicious intent to hurt the feelings of the community.
He said the dress was just a part of the fashion that was prevalent at that time.
Bendre had been booked under Section 295 (a) IPC for appearing on a magazine cover dated March 1998 dressed in the kurta that had 'Om' signs on it.
Apart from Bendre, the publisher of the magazine Neelkanth Seshadri, photographer Amit Ashar and dress designer Vineeta Ashley had also been booked in the case. They have all been discharged from the case.