Legal Setback: SC Rejects Anita Advani’s Plea to Recognise Relationship With Rajesh Khanna as Marriage
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed former actor Anita Advani’s plea seeking legal recognition of her relationship with late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage. The bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale reportedly said there were no grounds to consider her petition and described the case as “luxury litigation”. Advani had challenged a Bombay High Court order that rejected her request.
Advani’s lawyer reportedly told the Supreme Court that the case was about her right to dignity. The lawyer argued that her civil suit seeking legal recognition of her relationship with Khanna was linked to this right. However, the court refused to entertain her plea.
Advani’s Legal Battle Over Khanna
Advani had reportedly claimed that she was in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years. She alleged that she was forced to leave his Mumbai bungalow, Aashirwad, in 2012. According to her claim, Khanna’s estranged wife, actor Dimple Kapadia, their daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar were involved in her eviction.
Khanna died in July 2012. After his death, Advani reportedly filed a civil suit seeking legal recognition of their relationship as a marriage. In 2017, a Mumbai sessions court rejected her request. On April 1, the Bombay High Court upheld that decision, following which Advani approached the Supreme Court.
Earlier Court Orders and Domestic Violence Complaint
In 2013, Advani filed a complaint under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, against Kapadia and her family members as per reports. She sought monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Mumbai’s Bandra area.
In 2015, the Bombay High Court quashed the complaint, ruling that Advani’s relationship with Khanna did not qualify as a relationship akin to marriage under the domestic violence law. The court also said Khanna’s family members could not be included in the proceedings because Advani had never lived with them. The Supreme Court’s latest decision marks another setback for Advani’s efforts to obtain legal recognition of her relationship with the late actor.
