The Bombay High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Anita Advani, who sought legal recognition of her alleged relationship with the late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage. The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, upholds a previous decision by a lower court and marks a significant development in the long-standing legal dispute between Advani and Khanna’s surviving family members.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh dismissed the appeal filed by Advani. The petition challenged a 2017 order passed by the Dindoshi sessions court, which had rejected her civil suit seeking similar relief following Rajesh Khanna’s demise in July 2012. While the detailed copy of the High Court’s order is yet to be released, the dismissal effectively affirms the lower court’s refusal to grant the relationship the status of a legal marriage.
The legal battle traces back to the period immediately following the death of Rajesh Khanna. Anita Advani claimed she had been in a long-term live-in relationship with the actor and resided with him at his iconic suburban bungalow, ‘Aashirwad,’ in Mumbai.
Following Khanna’s death in 2012, Advani alleged she was forcefully evicted from the residence by Khanna’s estranged wife, veteran actor Dimple Kapadia, their daughter Twinkle Khanna, and son-in-law Akshay Kumar. In 2013, seeking maintenance and housing, Advani filed a complaint under the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) against Kapadia, her daughters Twinkle and Rinkie, and Akshay Kumar.
The matter has seen multiple rounds of litigation. In 2015, the Bombay High Court quashed Advani’s domestic violence complaint. At that time, the court observed that the nature of Advani’s relationship with the late superstar did not meet the criteria of a “relationship in the nature of marriage” required for seeking relief under the DVA.
Furthermore, the court had previously held that Khanna’s family members could not be made parties to the proceedings as Advani had never resided in a shared household with them.
In 2017, the Dindoshi sessions court rejected Advani’s civil suit which sought the same recognition of her status. The appeal dismissed this Wednesday was a direct challenge to that 2017 sessions court verdict.
Advani’s primary contention across these various legal fronts was her entitlement to financial support. She had sought a monthly maintenance allowance and a three-bedroom flat in Bandra, citing her years of companionship with the actor. However, the courts have consistently found that the relationship lacked the legal standing of a marriage, thereby precluding her from such claims under current personal and domestic violence laws.
