Bombay High Court dismisses Anita Advani’s plea seeking recognition of ‘marriage’ with Rajesh Khanna

Bombay High Court dismisses Anita Advani's plea for legal recognition of her relationship with late actor Rajesh Khanna.

Justice Sharmila Deshmukh of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (April 1, 2026) dismissed the first appeal filed by actor Anita Advani, who sought recognition of her ‘relationship’ with late Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna as being in the nature of ‘marriage’. The appeal challenged a 2017 order of a civil court in Dindoshi, Mumbai, which had rejected her suit on technical grounds.

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Ms. Advani stated that she and Rajesh Khanna, who died in 2012, were in a live-in relationship for ten years. She claimed that Khanna had ‘married’ her by applying sindoor on her head. The claim has been denied by Dimple Kapadia, who was married to Khanna, their daughter Twinkle Khanna, and son-in-law Akshay Kumar. The family has opposed Ms. Advani’s assertions of being ‘married’ to Khanna or being his live-in partner.

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Ms. Advani also said she was evicted from Khanna’s bungalow ‘Aashirwad’ after his death. She had filed a criminal case under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 against Ms. Kapadia, Ms. Twinkle Khanna, and Mr. Akshay Kumar. A different Bench of the High Court in 2015 quashed those proceedings, stating that Ms. Advani’s relationship with Khanna did not amount to a relationship in the nature of marriage under the Domestic Violence Act.