Bombay High Court Dismisses Anita Advani's Plea To Recognise Her Relationship With Rajesh Khanna As 'Marriage'

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by actor Anita Advani, who sought recognition of her 'relationship' with late Bollywood Superstar Rajesh Khanna as a 'marriage.'

Single-judge Justice Sharmila Deshmukh dismissed the First Appeal filed by Advani challenging a 2017 order of a Civil Court in Dindoshi, Mumbai. The Civil Court had rejected her suit on technical grounds.'

A copy of the judgment is yet to be made available.

According to Advani, she and Khanna were in a 'live-in relationship' for at least a decade until his death in 2012. She claimed that the late actor had 'secretly' married her by putting sindoor (vermilion) on her head.

This claim of 'marriage' is however, denied by Khanna's legally married wife - actor Dimple Kapadia, her daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar. The Kapadia family has opposed her claims of being 'married' to Khanna or of being a 'live-in' partner of the late actor.

Advani also claimed to be forcefully 'evicted' from Khanna's iconic 'Aashirwad' bungalow soon after his death. She therefore, had lodged a criminal case under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 against Kapadia, her daughter and son-in-law. However, another bench of the HC in 2015 quashed the proceedings while giving out a finding that Advani's relationship with Khanna did not amount to one 'in the nature of marriage' under the Domestic Violence Act.