Bombay HC dismisses Anita Advani’s plea: A look at her long-running legal way to prove relationship with Rajesh Khanna

On Wednesday (April 1), the Bombay High Court dismissed the plea filed by actor Anita Advani, who had approached the court seeking recognition of her alleged relationship with late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna.

In a fresh setback, a single-judge bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh dismissed Advani’s appeal seeking to have her relationship with Khanna legally recognised as a marriage. The court rejected her appeal challenging a Dindoshi court order that had earlier dismissed her civil suit. Notably, her appeal had also been dismissed on technical grounds in 2017.

Bombay HC dismisses Anita Advani’s plea

The High Court dismissed the appeal after hearing both sides, Advani and the lawyers representing Dimple Kapadia, Twinkle Khanna, and Akshay Kumar.

"First appeal is dismissed," the court said.

During the hearing, arguments presented on behalf of Kapadia, her daughter Twinkle, and son-in-law Akshay stated that Advani was neither legally married to Khanna nor in a legally recognised live-in relationship with him.

The legal dispute between Advani and Kapadia has been going on for nearly 14 years now, after the death of the superstar Khanna.

Over the years, Advani has claimed that her relationship with Khanna was like a marriage, claiming that she was forcibly removed from Khanna's movie Aashirwad bungalow following his death. Apart from this, she has even accused Kapadia, Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar of domestic violence.

In 2015, the Bombay High Court quashed Advani’s domestic violence complaint filed against Kapadia and her family. Saying that there is no proof of “relationship in the nature of marriage.” Hence, her appeal on domestic abuse was dismissed.

When Advani claimed that she and Rajesh were secretly married

During her interview with Meri Saheli, the veteran actress claimed that she was married privately to Khanna in a ceremony that took place in a small temple in their home.

‘’We got married privately, but in the film industry, no one talks about such things openly. Everyone says, ‘We’re friends’ or ‘We’re in a relationship.’ It was already reported in the media that I was with him, so neither of us felt the need to publicly announce that we were married,” she said.

“We had a small temple in our house. I had a mangal sutra made, gold with black beads. He made me wear it, then applied sindoor and said, “From today, you are my responsibility.'' she shared while recalling.