The Bombay High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition by actor Anita Advani, who had sought official recognition of her relationship with the late superstar Rajesh Khanna as a lawful marriage.

Justice Sharmila Deshmukh, after hearing submissions from lawyers representing Advani and members of Khanna’s family — including his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, daughter Twinkle Khanna and son-in-law Akshay Kumar — dismissed the appeal. The court said a detailed order explaining its reasoning would follow.

Advani had moved the High Court after a civil court in 2017 rejected her suit on procedural grounds. In her petition, she requested a declaration that her association with Khanna constituted a valid marriage under the law.

Although Khanna and Kapadia had been living separately for years, they were never legally divorced, and she continued to be his lawful spouse.

After Khanna’s passing in 2012, Advani publicly maintained that she had shared a long-term relationship with him and claimed that a private wedding ceremony had taken place. She also alleged that she was sidelined by the actor’s family during his final days and excluded from funeral rites.

The matter had previously sparked litigation when Advani filed a domestic violence complaint before a Bandra magistrate court against Kapadia, Twinkle Khanna and Akshay Kumar, accusing them of forcing her out of Khanna’s home. In 2015, the High Court quashed those proceedings.

With the latest ruling, Advani’s bid to obtain judicial acknowledgment of her claimed marital status with the late actor has been turned down.

Rajesh Khanna, regarded as Hindi cinema’s first superstar, ruled the box office during the late 1960s and 1970s and passed away in Mumbai in July 2012 after prolonged illness.