Faced with an obscenity suit, film star Shilpa Shetty approached the National Commission for Women (NCW) seeking its intervention in the matter even as the women's panel said it was evolving a code for tackling indecency in films and other media.

Shetty, who is currently shooting in Bangkok, through a representative submitted a memorandum to NCW chairperson Girija Vyas seeking ‘moral support'.

In response, the NCW said it wrong on part of the Tamil tabloid Murasu to publish Shetty's photo, which has landed her in soup, without her consent.

"It is unfair to use pictures of stars without their consent. Shetty has been involved with social causes like aids and women's issues and it is wrong to tarnish her image," Vyas said.

She also said the NCW was evolving a code to be issued to the Censor Board for preventing indecent representation of women in films, TV and advertisements.

Shetty argued that the picture of her's that appeared in the tabloid was a still frame from a film starring her and was carried without her consent.

She stated that the Kannada film Auto Shankar co-starring southern star Upendra, from which the freeze frame was taken, had been cleared by the Censor Board.

"How can someone hold an actor responsible for something which has been passed by the censors," Shetty's spokesman Dale Bhagwagar said, clarifying she had not posed for the photo.

He said the advocate who has filed the case in a Madurai court should take up the matter with the Censor Board or the producers of the movie instead.

He also termed as untrue reports that Shetty had been summoned by the court and was issued a non-bailable warrant.

Mean while National Commission of Women (NCW) chair Girija Vyas on Thursday rubbished the obscenity case against actress Shilpa.

"When the Censor Board has cleared her film for public viewing, where does the question of obscenity arise?" Vyas wondered.

According to Vyas, "(censor board chief) Sharmila Tagore should also come out in Shilpa's support. In fact, all self-respecting women of India should speak up for her".