Bombay HC restrains media from calling Rajesh Khanna’s home Aashirwad ‘haunted, cursed’ | Bollywood News

3 min readNew DelhiJul 30, 2026 12:25 PM Aashirwad—the iconic bungalow once owned Rajesh Khanna—was demolished nearly a decade ago its new owner, who constructed a four-storey residence for his family at the site. However, over the years, several media reports claimed that the bungalow was haunted, cursed or unlucky. The Bombay High Court has now restrained media organisations and online platforms from describing the property as “cursed”, “haunted” or “unlucky”. In an interim order passed on July 24, Justice Arif S Doctor observed that such descriptions were prima facie defamatory and violated the plaintiff’s fundamental right to live peacefully and with dignity.
The hearing came after businessman Shashi Shetty, the current owner of Aashirwad, approached the court after coming across several articles, social media posts and videos that described the property as haunted.
Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for Shetty, told the court that his client had demolished the original bungalow and constructed a new house in its place. However, the name of the property was retained, and the new residence continues to be called Aashirwad. The petitioner also pointed out that India.com had recently published an article titled “19 Real Haunted Houses in India That Will Give You A Cold Sweat”, in which Aashirwad was led.
The court held that the owner was “wholly justified” in seeking 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 stated. The court further observed that such descriptions could impinge on Shetty’s “right to live peacefully and in dignity”.
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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 said. The ad-interim relief will continue until the next hearing on August 21, 2026.
The hory of Rajesh Khanna’s Aashirwad
Rajesh Khanna 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, enjoying a level of fan frenzy that remains unparalleled.Story continues below this ad
Following Rajesh Khanna’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. Shetty 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.