SC rejects actor's plea seeking recognition of relationship with Rajesh Khanna as marriage

New Delhi, Terming it "luxury litigation", the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former actor Anita Advani's plea challenging an order dismissing her petition seeking recognition of her alleged relationship with the late Rajesh Khanna as a marriage.

Advani had challenged an April 1 order of the Bombay High Court.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale observed that there was no ground to entertain the plea.

"This is luxury litigation," it said.

The counsel appearing for Advani said, "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 high court had dismissed the appeal filed by Advani challenging an order passed by the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai in 2017 rejecting her civil suit seeking similar relief after the Bollywood superstar's death in July 2012.

Advani claimed she was in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years till she was evicted from his bungalow Aashirwad in the metropolis in 2012 by his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, also a veteran actor, daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar.

In 2013, Advani filed a complaint before a magistrate under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 against Kapadia, her daughters as well her son-in-law.

Advani, who appeared in a handful of films, including "Saazish" and "Daasi", sought monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Mumbai's upscale Bandra area.

In 2015, the high court quashed Advani's complaint and allowed the pleas filed by Kapadia and her family seeking its dismissal.

Quashing the proceedings, the high court observed that Advani's relation with Khanna was not of the nature of a marriage and hence, she cannot seek relief under the provisions of the DVA.

The court had further held that all family members of the late filmstar cannot be roped into the legal proceedings as Advani never lived with them.

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