NEW DELHI: Adult TV star Sunny Leone has an unlikely supporter. Press Council chief Justice Markandey Katju has said

that Leone should not be treated as a social outcast and her past should not be held against her if her behaviour in India is “socially acceptable’’.

Katju said he had not seen anything to suggest that Leone was indulging in pornography. Citing religious examples, he said, “Lord Buddha stayed with the courtesan Amrapali and ate food served by her, and she later became his disciple. Similarly, Mary Magdalene was a fallen woman (according to the Gospel of Luke as interpreted by Pope Gregory) and Jesus allowed her to wash his feet and she later became his disciple.”

He added, "My opinion is that Sunny Leone was earning her livelihood in USA in a manner acceptable in that country, though it is not acceptable in India... if she conducts herself in India in a manner which is socially acceptable in India and does not breach the social moral code in India, we should not treat her as a social outcast.’’

He was responding to a complaint by Dev

Bhattacharya to I&B minister

and him complaining against inaction by Broadcaster Consumers Complaints Council regarding cross promotion by TV channel Colors of porn actress Sunny Leone.

“There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future,” Katju said.

Leone's appearance on ‘Bigg Boss’ has been a subject of controversy for quite some time. BCCC had recently directed that Leone should not use the show to promote her pornography business. As many as 38 complaints had been made to the BCCC regarding Leone's appearance. However, BCCC has not found anything in the content of Bigg Boss-5 which by itself was violative of self-regulatory guidelines.