New Delhi: Yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna's alleged live-in partner Anita Advani on Friday got a relief from the Supreme Court which issued notice to Dimple Kapadia, Akshay Kumar on plea of Khanna's partner.
According to TOI report, Advani in her plea had claimed that Khanna was estranged from wife Dimple for more than two decades before he died in July 2012. SC notice on Friday was a clear indicator on the fact that as the society is changing, the law needs to take into account whether a married man is eligible to have live-in partner or not.
Five years back, live-in relationship was recognised by the court of law, however with Anita's plea, again a question rises about the status and the acceptability of a live-in partner in our society.
The Supreme Court has sought responses from Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, his wife Twinkle Khanna and mother-in-law Dimple Kapadia on a plea of Anita Advani, alleged live-in partner of yesteryear heart-throb Rajesh Khanna, against dismissal of her domestic violence case against the three actors.
"Issue notice," a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy said after hearing brief arguments advanced by Advani's counsel.
Senior lawyers C A Sundaram and Jatin Zaveri, appearing for Advani, criticized the Bombay High Court order dismissing her complaint lodged against the three actors under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
"She was not married to late Rajesh Khanna, but she was in a relationship which was of the nature of marriage," he said, adding that her complaint was wrongly dismissed.
He claimed that Advani was in "live-in" relationship with Khanna.
The Bombay High Court had in April allowed the petitions of filed by Dimple, Twinkle and Akshay seeking quashing of proceedings initiated against them by a lower court based on a complaint lodged by Anita.
The High Court had observed that her relation with Khanna was not of the nature of marriage and hence, she cannot seek relief under the provisions of Domestic Violence Act.
It had further held that all family members of Khanna cannot be roped into the proceedings as she had never lived with them.
Advani had claimed that she was evicted from Khanna's suburban bungalow 'Aashirwad' after his death and had sought monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Bandra.
The magistrate had then issued notices to the actors on Advani's complaint.
(With PTI inputs)
