Rajesh Khanna's kin asked to appear before court

Mumbai: A metropolitan court today asked family members of Rajesh Khanna to appear before it in connection with a complaint filed against them by a woman claiming to be his live-in partner and seeking maintenance from the estate of the late actor.

Magistrate S S Deshpande, hearing the complaint filed by Anita Advani under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, suggested both the sides to settle the matter amicably and said if they agree he would refer the case to a mediator

the same day.

The court asked Khanna's actress wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Twinkle and Rinki, and son-in-law Akshay Kumar to appear before him "without fail" on December 4 to give their views on arriving at a settlement, if they so desired.

The magistrate further said that if the parties did not agree to a settlement, he would hear the matter and dispose it of in a month.

In her petition, Anita Advani has accused Khanna's family of having evicted her from his bungalow, thereby attracting provisions of the Domestic Violence Act.

Advani has prayed that she be granted protection under the Domestic Violence Act, allowed access to 'Ashirwad', the actor's bungalow in Bandra where she claimed to have lived with Khanna since 2003.

In her petition, she has alleged that after Khanna passed away in July this year, his family members evicted her thereby committing an offence under the Domestic Violence Act. Advani has also challenged the will purported to have

been executed by the actor before his death. According to her, he had not left behind any will and that a will was forged by his family. She has alleged that the actor's family had obtained his thumb impression on the will when he was critically ill and not capable of understanding anything.

The complainant has claimed monetary relief in the form of maintenance from the estate of Rajesh Khanna. Advani claimed that she lived with the actor in the

"shared household" (defined under the Domestic Violence Act as a place where a man and woman live as husband and wife)and hence was entitled to maintenance to support herself.