New Delhi, October 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a petition filed by former actor Anita Advani seeking recognition of her relationship with late Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna as one in the nature of marriage.
A Bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale observed that there were no grounds to entertain the plea, describing it as “luxury litigation”.
Advani had approached the apex court after the Bombay High Court dismissed her appeal against a trial court order rejecting her suit. Through the suit, she had sought a declaration that she was in a relationship with the late actor in the nature of marriage and should be recognised as his widow.
In its judgment delivered on April 1, the Bombay High Court upheld the dismissal of her suit, holding that her claim was barred by law because Khanna’s marriage to actor Dimple Kapadia was still subsisting.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh held that recognising a relationship as one in the nature of marriage required the parties to satisfy conditions laid down by the Supreme Court, including being legally eligible to enter into a marriage.
The High Court referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling in D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal, which established that parties in such a relationship must otherwise be qualified to enter into a legally valid marriage, including being unmarried.
“The tests formulated by the Hon’ble Apex Court would indicate that the declaration of this nature seeks equivalence with marriage and marital relationship and must therefore also satisfy the essential tests for valid marriage although not formally married,” the High Court observed.
It further held that this requirement was not fulfilled in Advani’s case because Khanna’s marriage to Kapadia had not been dissolved.
The High Court also rejected Advani’s argument that her request for recognition of the relationship could be considered independently of her plea seeking to be declared Khanna’s widow.
“The distinction between monogamous or polygamous live-in relationship cannot exclude the satisfaction of the tests laid down in D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal (supra), which is clearly not satisfied in present case,” the judgment stated.
Before the High Court, Advani had contended that she and Khanna had lived together for several years and presented their relationship to society as being in the nature of marriage.
She also claimed that they shared a household and celebrated festivals together. However, the High Court found no merit in her appeal and upheld the trial court’s decision to reject the suit at the threshold under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).
“There is no merit in the First Appeal. Resultantly, the Appeal stands dismissed,” the High Court ruled.
Advani had filed the suit in 2015 against Kapadia, her daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna, and son-in-law Rajiv Bhatia, seeking legal recognition of her relationship with the late actor.
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