Kamal Ghorui
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal filed by actor Anita Advani, who had sought legal recognition of her relationship with late superstar Rajesh Khanna as a marriage. For those not in the know, Rajesh Khanna was married to Dimple Kapadia in 1973 but the duo separated in the mid 1980s. Though Kapadia moved out of his bungalow Aashirwad with her daughters Twinkle and Rinke Khanna, she was never officially divorced to Khanna. Meanwhile, for many years, Anita maintained that she was in a live-in relationship with the superstar until his death in 2012. Calling herself his “surrogate wife,” she said she looked after his household, including the famous Aashirwad bungalow, and cared for him during his ill health. She also shared that she observed rituals like Karva Chauth for him.Thus, Advani had filed a plea seeking marital recognition for her relationship with the late actor, which the court rejected on Wednesday. The order was passed by Justice Sharmila Deshmukh, who dismissed Advani’s plea challenging a lower court’s decision. Earlier, in 2017, the Dindoshi Civil Court had thrown out Advani’s civil suit on technical grounds. She subsequently approached the High Court in appeal. After considering submissions from Advani’s counsel and legal representatives appearing for Dimple Kapadia, Akshay Kumar, and Twinkle Khanna, the High Court upheld the earlier ruling and dismissed the appeal.“First appeal is dismissed,” the court stated. The dispute between Advani and Kapadia has led to several legal battles since 2012, largely stemming from Advani’s assertion that she shared a relationship with Rajesh Khanna.Advani had also filed a criminal complaint before a Bandra Magistrate court, accusing Kapadia, Akshay Kumar, and Twinkle Khanna of domestic violence. She alleged that she was forced out of Khanna’s bungalow, Aashirwad, after his death.In 2015, however, a coordinate bench of the Bombay High Court quashed those domestic violence proceedings against Kapadia, Twinkle Khanna, and Akshay Kumar. The court had then ruled that Advani’s association with Rajesh Khanna did not amount to a relationship “in the nature of marriage” under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. A few months ago, Anita had said in an interview that she was secretly married to Khanna. In an interview with ‘Meri Saheli’, she had expressed, “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’ or something else. But it was already reported in the media that I was with him, so neither of us felt the need to go and publicly announce that we were married. We never felt that need.” She went on to recount how the private ceremony took place: “We had a small temple in our home. I had a mangal sutra made, gold with black beads. He made me wear it. Then he applied sindoor and said, ‘From today, you are my responsibility.’ That’s how our wedding happened one night, just like that.”
