Entertainment · Indian Cinema · 8 hrs ago
Supreme Court rejects Anita Advani's plea to recognise relationship as marriage
The Supreme Court rejected Anita Advani’s plea to have her relationship with late actor Rajesh Khanna legally recognised as a marriage.
The judges said they saw no grounds to hear her case and called it “luxury litigation.”
Advani said she had been in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years before he died in 2012.
She said she was seeking dignity and recognition, while her lawyer argued the case was not about financial gain.
The ruling upholds the Bombay High Court’s decision, which had dismissed her appeal against an earlier rejection of her civil suit.
Advani also filed a domestic violence complaint against Khanna’s wife, Dimple Kapadia, and members of his family, seeking maintenance and a flat.
The High Court dismissed that complaint in 2015, saying the relationship did not qualify as one in the nature of marriage under the law and that the family members could not be included in the case.
The Supreme Court’s decision ends her attempt to secure legal recognition through this case.
The Supreme Court rejected Anita Advani’s plea to have her relationship with late actor Rajesh Khanna legally recognised as a marriage.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale said there was no ground to entertain the petition and called it “luxury litigation.”
Advani had challenged a Bombay High Court order dismissing her appeal over a civil suit seeking recognition.
She said she had been in a live-in relationship with Khanna for several years before he died in 2012.
Her legal dispute also included a domestic violence complaint against members of Khanna’s family, which the Bombay High Court quashed in 2015.
- Who
- Former actor Anita Advani and the Supreme Court bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale.
- What
- The court rejected Advani’s plea to recognise her relationship with Rajesh Khanna as a marriage.
- When
- Thursday, October 29, 2026.
- Where
- The Supreme Court of India. The dispute involved Khanna’s Mumbai bungalow, Aashirwad, in Bandra.
- Why
- Advani sought legal recognition of the relationship and said her claim was rooted in dignity. The court found no ground to entertain her plea.
Anita Advani
Supreme Court of India
Recognition
Anita Advani
Advani sought a declaration that her relationship with Rajesh Khanna should be recognised as a marriage.
Supreme Court of India
The court declined to entertain her petition, saying there was no ground to do so.
Reason for the case
Anita Advani
Advani’s lawyer said the civil suit was premised on a sense of dignity, not financial gain.
Supreme Court of India
The bench described the case as “luxury litigation.
Rajesh Khanna died at the age of 69.
Advani filed a domestic violence complaint against Dimple Kapadia, her daughters and Akshay Kumar.
The Bombay High Court quashed Advani’s domestic violence complaint, ruling that her relationship with Khanna was not in the nature of a marriage.
Mumbai’s Dindoshi Sessions Court rejected Advani’s civil suit seeking similar recognition.
The Bombay High Court dismissed Advani’s appeal against the sessions court ruling.
The Supreme Court rejected Advani’s plea challenging the High Court order.
- Supreme Court bench
- Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale
- Relationship claim
- Advani said she had been in a live-in relationship with Rajesh Khanna for several years
- Khanna’s death
- July 2012, aged 69
- Domestic violence complaint
- Filed in 2013 under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
- Relief sought in complaint
- Monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Bandra
- Supreme Court’s description
- Luxury litigation
3 sources
What people are saying
This is luxury litigation.
At the end of the day, my prayer in my civil suit which is for this declaration, is premised on some sense of dignity.