The Bombay High Court has restrained media organizations and online platforms from referring to the 'Aashirwad' bungalow in Bandra, once owned by late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna, as "cursed," "haunted," or "unlucky".
Justice Arif S Doctor, in an interim order passed on July 24, said that such descriptions were prima facie defamatory, and violated the plaintiff's fundamental right to live peacefully and in dignity.
Shashi Shetty, a businessman who purchased the iconic bungalow some years ago, moved the court after coming across numerous articles, posts and videos on the internet that labelled the property as "haunted," "cursed," and "ill-omened".
Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, representing Shashi, told the court that he constructed a new house after demolishing the original bungalow, but did not change the name. The new house is also called Aashirwad, the lawyer said.
The petitioner pointed out that the website Indiadotcom recently published an article titled '19 Real Haunted Houses in India That Will Give You A Cold Sweat', in which Aashirwad bungalow was also listed.
The judge held that the owner was "wholly justified" in seeking an interim relief.
"The material, in my prima facie view, is clearly defamatory of the plaintiff so as to suggest that he lives in a haunted and so-called cursed bungalow," the order noted.
Further, it would also clearly impinge upon the Shashi’s "right to live peacefully and in dignity", the HC said.
The judge also noted that none of the respondents appeared before the court to justify or defend their publications.
"Therefore, in my prima facie view, clearly such publications would be wholly unjustified and in the nature of creating sensationalism, at the cost to the plaintiff and for no fault of his," the court held.
The ad-interim relief will continue until the next hearing on August 21, 2026.
Yesteryear’s superstar Rajesh Khanna had bought Aashirwad from actor Rajendra Kumar for Rs 3.5 lakh. Rajendra Kumar had reportedly purchased the property for Rs 65,000 in the late 1950s. The bungalow proved fortunate for both actors, with each achieving immense success during the period they lived there. Rajendra Kumar earned the title of “Jubilee Kumar” following a string of hit films, while Rajesh Khanna went on to become Hindi cinema’s first superstar.
Following Rajesh’s death in 2012, his family sold the property to Shashi Shetty for a reported Rs 90 crore. The actor had reportedly hoped to turn Aashirwad into a museum after his death, but the plan remained unfulfilled following the sale. Shahsi demolished the original bungalow in 2016 and constructed a new four-storey residence for his family. However, he retained the name Aashirwad for the new property.
