HC junks Anita Advani’s plea seeking recognition of ‘relationship’ with Rajesh Khanna as marriage

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by actor Anita Advani seeking recognition of her alleged relationship with late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage. A single bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh dismissed the appeal filed by Advani challenging an order passed by the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai in 2017, rejecting her civil suit seeking similar relief after Khanna’s death in July 2012.

Advani had claimed she was in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years till she was evicted from his bungalow ‘Aashirwad’ in the metropolis in 2012 by his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, also a veteran actor, daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar. In 2013, Advani filed a complaint before a magistrate under provisions of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) against Kapadia, the Bollywood couple’s daughters Twinkle and Rinkie and their son-in-law and superstar Akshay Kumar.

Advani claimed she was evicted from Khanna’s suburban bungalow after his death and sought monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Bandra, an upscale area in Mumbai.

In 2015, the HC quashed Advani’s complaint and allowed the pleas filed by Kapadia, her daughters and Akshay Kumar, seeking its dismissal.

Quashing the proceedings, the HC had then observed that Advani’s relation with Khanna was not of the nature of a marriage and hence she cannot seek relief under the provisions of the DVA. The court had further held that all family members of the late filmstar cannot be roped into the legal proceedings, as Advani never lived with them.