Domestic violence: SC notice to Akshay, Twinkle, Dimple

Legal somersault

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to actor Akshay Kumar, his wife Twinkle Khanna and mother-in-law Dimple Kapadia following yesteryear heartthrob Rajesh Khanna's live-in partner Anita Advani's plea challenging dismissal of a domestic violence case against the trio.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy sought responses from Khanna's family members after Anita's counsel contended that she had been deprived of her rights.

Senior lawyers C A Sundaram and Jatin Zaveri, appearing for Anita, submitted that the Bombay High Court had her complaint against the three actors, filed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

“She was not married to the late Rajesh Khanna, but in a relationship which was of the nature of marriage,” they said, adding that he was separated from his family for the past 25 years.

He said Anita and Khanna were in a live-in relationship.

The Bombay High Court had in April allowed Dimple, Twinkle and Akshay's petitions seeking quashing of proceedings initiated against them by a lower court based on Anita’s complaint.

It had observed that Anita's relationship with Khanna was not of the nature of marriage and hence she could not seek relief under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act.

It had further held that all of Khanna's family members cannot be roped into the proceedings as she had never lived with them.

Anita had claimed she was evicted from Khanna's suburban bungalow “Aashirwad” after his death, and had sought monthly maintenance and a three-bedroom flat in Bandra.