Tuesday, Shilpa Shetty and five TV news channel owners failed to appear in a Ghaziabad court in connection with the controversial kiss from Hollywood star Richard Gere at a public event last month.

On 2 May, the court had issued a summons to each on a PIL by a local lawyer that alleged the kiss was an "indecent representation of sexual activities" in a public place.

The petition had been filed on 17 April by Rookan Pal Singh, former President of the Ghaziabad Bar Association, demanding action against Shilpa and the news channels that aired the incident.

Gere had kissed Shilpa on the cheek at an AIDS awareness function in New Delhi, provoking some sections to protests, alleging it was an affront to the Indian cultural ethos.

Activists, mostly from Hindu organisations in Varanasi, Bhopal, Kanpur, Indore, Delhi and Mumbai burnt effigies of Gere and Shilpa. As well as filing a PIL in a Jaipur court, the hearing for which is due on 26 May.

In the Ghaziabad court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Beena Chaudhry took note of the fact that the summons were not received by the respondents and deferred the hearing till May 21.

The 26 May will be the hearing of a complaint against Hollywood actor Richard Gere in a court in Jaipur for kissing Shilpa on the cheek.

On 26 April, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Dinesh Gupta had issued an arrest warrant against Gere and summoned Shilpa based on a PIL filed by Poonam Chand Bhandari.

However, Gupta was recently transferred, as a result the hearing of the case was shifted to the link court of ACJM Rajendra Tuteja, which fixed the date of the next hearing.

Later, Bhandari stated he had requested the court issue a bailable arrest warrant against Shilpa since she was not present in court despite being summoned.

Tuteja said a link court cannot issue such directives.