The Supreme Court has dismissed Anita Advani’s challenge to a Bombay High Court ruling refusing to recognise her alleged relationship with late actor Rajesh Khanna as a marriage, with the proceedings being described as “luxury litigation”
A plea seeking legal recognition of former actor Anita Advani’s alleged relationship with late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, with the Bench finding no grounds to entertain the challenge and describing the case as “luxury litigation”.
A Bench comprising Justices M. M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale declined to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s April 1 order, which had upheld a 2017 decision of a Mumbai sessions court rejecting Advani’s civil suit seeking a declaration that her relationship with Khanna was equivalent to marriage.
During the hearing, Advani’s counsel submitted that the proceedings were not merely about the recognition of a relationship but were also concerned with the protection of her dignity. It was argued that the civil suit had been instituted to secure a declaration concerning the nature of her relationship with the late actor.
The submissions, however, failed to persuade the Supreme Court to entertain the petition.
Dispute Over Alleged Live-In Relationship
Advani had claimed that she had been in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years before she was allegedly evicted from his Mumbai bungalow, Aashirwad, in 2012. The eviction was attributed to Khanna’s estranged wife, actor Dimple Kapadia, their daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar.
Following Khanna’s death in July 2012, legal proceedings were initiated by Advani seeking recognition of the alleged relationship and associated reliefs.
Her challenge before the Supreme Court arose after the Bombay High Court upheld the rejection of her civil suit by a sessions court in 2017. The High Court’s April 1 order was subsequently questioned on the ground that the relationship deserved legal recognition.
Domestic Violence Complaint Also Rejected
In 2013, a complaint was filed by Advani under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, against Kapadia and other members of Khanna’s family. Monthly maintenance and accommodation in a three-bedroom flat in Mumbai’s Bandra area were among the reliefs sought.
The complaint was quashed by the Bombay High Court in 2015. It was held that Advani’s relationship with Khanna did not qualify as a relationship in the nature of marriage for the purposes of the domestic violence law. It was also observed that Khanna’s family members could not be proceeded against in the circumstances described, as Advani had not lived with them.
The latest dismissal marks another setback for Advani’s efforts to obtain judicial recognition of her alleged relationship with the actor. The proceedings also highlight the distinction under Indian law between a claimed live-in relationship and a relationship that satisfies the legal requirements for recognition as a marriage or as a relationship in the nature of marriage under the domestic violence legislation.
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