The Bombay High Court today admitted an appeal filed by Twinkle Kumar, former actor and daughter of late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna, against a single Judge’s order asking her to give a copy of her late father’s will to his former companion Anita Advani.
Justice R D Dhanuka had on July 30 allowed Advani to secure a copy of the will.
Twinkle challenged this order before a division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah which today stayed the order of Justice Dhanuka until the appeal filed by her was finally heard and disposed of.
Earlier, the division bench had granted an interim stay on Justice Dhanuka’s order until today. Now, the stay on this order has become permanent till the appeal is disposed of.
In view of the court admitting the appeal, Twinkle would not be required to give a copy of the will to Advani.
Twinkle’s lawyers Janak Dwarkadas and Birendra Saraf argued Advani had no right to get a copy of the will as she was neither a family member nor a legal heir.
Advani’s claim was based on a complaint filed under the Domestic Violence Act and that did not give her the right to secure a copy of Khanna’s will, they contended.
Advani’s lawyer Manohar Shetty had earlier told the court that his client would not collect a copy of the will until the division bench decided the issue.
Khanna’s daughters, Twinkle and Rinkie, who are named as his heirs in the will, had earlier filed a probate petition to get it validated (‘probated’).
Advani, who claims to have lived in with Khanna at his suburban bungalow ‘Aashirwad’ during the last two years of his life and looked after him, has challenged genuineness of the will, saying the actor was not in the position to sign it at the time due to ill-health.Khanna, a yesteryears superstar, died on July 18, 2012.
The will names his daughters as the heirs and Twinkle has also been appointed as executor of the will.
According to media reports, Khanna’s bungalow had recently been sold to a city-based businessman.
(Source: PTI)
