Hollywood actor and anti-AIDS campaigner Richard Gere who was involved in a kissing row with actress Shipa Shetty today got a reprieve from the Supreme Court which stayed his arrest warrant issued by a Jaipur court and allowed him to visit India freely.

The court observed that the complaint filed by a Jaipur resident was just "publicity hunting" and held that there was no need for the local court to issue the arrest warrant.

"We allow him to enter and leave the country freely," a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said allowing the application of Gere, who sought the relief in view of his scheduled meeting in India with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on March 21. "He will not have to appear in the court," it said.

The Hollywood actor had created a stir by taking Shetty in his arms and kissing her on her cheeks at an AIDS awareness programme in Mumbai last year.

The Bench was anguished that the court in Jaipur issued the arrest warrant on a complaint in which even the address of the actor was not mentioned properly.

It took serious note of the fact that the court issued the warrant on the complaint giving address of the actor as US Embassy, Jaipur. "The court has no business to issue the arrest warrant.

What power has the Magistrate to issue the warrant when address is not given in the complaint," the Bench asked. "The filing of such complaint and order of arrest warrant brings bad name to the country," the Bench said.

The complaint was filed by Jaipur resident Poonam Chandra Bhandari. Her advocate Anupam Lal Das during the hearing questioned the relief sought by Gere saying that he had agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of court here.