No legal marriage: High Court rejects Anita Advani's claim as Rajesh Khanna's wife

The Bombay High Court dismissed Anita Advani's appeal seeking legal recognition of her relationship with Rajesh Khanna as a marriage, upholding the earlier rejection of her suit.

In Short

• Actor Anita Advani seeks to be declared as Rajesh Khanna's wife
• Khanna's legal wife Dimple Kapadia remains officially married despite separation
• Court rejects Advani's claims of secret marriage to Bollywood superstar

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by actor Anita Advani challenging a lower court’s rejection of her suit seeking legal recognition of her relationship with late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage.

A bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh, after hearing arguments from both sides, including counsel representing Advani and Rajesh Khanna’s estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar, ruled that the appeal has been dismissed. A detailed judgment is awaited.

Advani, who was closely associated with Khanna during the final years of his life, had approached the High Court after a civil court, in 2017, dismissed her suit on technical grounds. In her plea, she had sought a declaration that her relationship with Khanna amounted to a valid marriage.

Kapadia, however, remained Khanna’s legally wedded wife. Though the couple had separated, they had never formally divorced.

Following Khanna’s death in 2012, Advani publicly claimed that she had been in a long-standing relationship with the actor and alleged that she had secretly married him, asserting that he had applied sindoor on her. She also accused Khanna’s family of neglecting him during his final days and excluding her from his last rites.

The dispute had earlier led to legal proceedings, with Advani filing a domestic violence complaint before a Bandra magistrate court against Kapadia, Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar, alleging that she had been forcibly removed from Khanna’s residence. In 2015, the Bombay High Court quashed the domestic violence case against them.

With Wednesday’s order, Advani’s attempt to secure legal recognition of her claimed marital status with the late actor has been rejected, pending the detailed reasoning from the court.

Anita Advani is a former actor and is remembered for her roles in films such as 'Daasi', 'Aao Pyaar Karen' and 'Saazish'.

Rajesh Khanna was a legendary Indian actor and the first superstar of Bollywood, who dominated Hindi cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s with a record run of hit films and immense fan following. He died in Mumbai in July 2012, after a prolonged illness.

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