NEW DELHI - According to media reports, a court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, saying their kiss at a public function “transgressed all limits of vulgarity.”

Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection offended “local sensibilities“.

Gupta earlier viewed television footage of the event, which he called “highly sexually erotic,” saying the pair violated India’s strict public obscenity laws.

The judge was quoted as saying Gere and Shetty “transgressed all limits of vulgarity and have the tendency to corrupt the society.”

Such cases against celebrities - often filed by publicity seekers - are common in conservative India. They add to a backlog of legal cases that has nearly crippled the country’s judicial system.

Gere left India shortly after the kissing incident and it was not immediately clear how the warrant would affect him.