NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed 22 criminal cases filed against South Indian actress Khushboo for her remarks in various magazines allegedly endorsing pre-marital sex.
A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan allowed the appeal filed by the actress against the decision of the Madras High Court which had dismissed her plea to quash the cases.
The cases were registered in various places in Tamil Nadu for her interviews in 2005.
Khushboo had challenged the 2008 ruling of the Madras High Court, which had dismissed her plea to scrap various criminal cases against her for the controversial remark.
In a speech earlier, Khushboo had said there was nothing wrong with pre-marital sex and live-in relationships. In its ruling the bench asked: "When two adults want to live together, what is the offence? Does it amount to an offence? Living together is not an offence. It cannot be an offence."
The court had said the views expressed by her were personal. And no one had the right to question the personal thinking of a person, the court said.
The bench had also asked the complainants to produce evidence of any girls eloping after the statement.
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