Newdelhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former actor Anita Advani's plea challenging the dismissal of her petition seeking recognition of her alleged relationship with late actor Rajesh Khanna as a marriage, according to the Press Trust of India.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale stated there was no ground to entertain the petition, describing it as luxury litigation while dismissing Advani's challenge to an April 1 order issued by the Bombay High Court.
During the proceedings, Advani's counsel told the court that the civil suit and declaration sought were premised on securing a sense of dignity.
The Bombay High Court had previously dismissed Advani's appeal against a 2017 ruling by the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai, which rejected her civil suit filed after Khanna's death in July 2012. Advani had maintained that she was in a long-term live-in relationship with the actor until she was asked to leave his Mumbai bungalow, Aashirwad, by his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, daughter Twinkle Khanna, and son-in-law Akshay Kumar.
Advani, whose acting credits include films like Saazish and Daasi, initially filed a magistrate's complaint in 2013 under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, naming Kapadia and her family members. She sought monthly maintenance alongside a three-bedroom apartment in Mumbai's Bandra neighborhood.
In 2015, the Bombay High Court set aside the complaint and granted the dismissal pleas filed by Kapadia and her family, ruling that Advani's association with Khanna did not constitute a relationship in the nature of marriage and therefore fell outside the scope of domestic violence laws.
The high court also determined that the entire family of the late actor could not be dragged into the legal dispute since Advani had never resided with them. With the latest ruling, the Supreme Court has brought an end to Advani's challenge by refusing to entertain her petition.