SC rejects actor's plea to recognize marriage with Rajesh Khanna
What's the story
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a petition filed by former actor Anita Advani, who sought legal recognition of her alleged relationship with late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage. The court called this "luxury litigation" and stated that there was no basis to entertain such a plea. Advani had challenged an order from the Bombay High Court that dismissed her appeal in April.
Legal proceedings
HC dismissed her appeal in April
Advani's counsel argued in court, "I am seeking dignity. At the end of the day, my prayer in my civil suit which is for this declaration, is premised on some sense of dignity."
The Bombay High Court had earlier dismissed her appeal against a 2017 order from the Dindoshi Sessions Court in Mumbai that rejected her civil suit after Khanna's death in July 2012.
Relationship details
She was evicted from Khanna's bungalow in 2012
Advani claimed she was in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years until she was evicted from his Mumbai bungalow, Aashirwad, in 2012 by his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia.
In 2013, she filed a complaint under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act against Kapadia and her family members.
She sought monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Bandra, Mumbai.
Case dismissal
Court ruled she could not seek domestic violence relief
In 2015, the Bombay High Court quashed Advani's complaint and allowed pleas filed by Kapadia and her family seeking its dismissal.
The court ruled that Advani's relationship with Khanna was not a marriage and she could not seek relief under domestic violence law.
It also stated that all members of the late actor's family could not be included in legal proceedings as Advani never lived with them.