A DNA test has confirmed that senior Congress leader N.D. Tiwari is the biological father of Delhi-based 32-year-old Rohit Shekhar.
Mr. Shekhar had, in a paternity suit, sought a declaration from court that Mr. Tiwari is his biological father.
Justice Reva Khetrapal of the Delhi High Court pronounced the gist of the DNA matching of Mr. Tiwari, Mr. Shekhar and his mother Ujjwala Sharma in the open court on Friday.
Earlier, she went through the test report in her chamber in the presence of counsel for Mr. Shekhar and his mother.
Interestingly, Mr. Tiwari’s counsel was absent. In fact, Justice Khetrapal decided to open the test report after waiting for counsel to turn up.
Earlier in the day, a Division Bench of the court, comprising Justices A.K. Sikri and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw dismissed a petition by Mr. Tiwari that sought a direction to keep the DNA report secret till the conclusion of the trial in the suit, saying “not opening the DNA report may lead to a lengthy process.”
Later, talking to reporters, Mr. Shekhar said he would decide on his claim on Mr. Tiwari’s property after taking his lawyer’s advice.
Court battle between Mr. Tiwari and Mr. Shekhar went on for five years, with the veteran leader sparing no legal remedies to get the suit dismissed. At one stage, Justice S.N. Dhingra (since retired) dismissed the suit on the ground of it being time-barred and beyond the Delhi High Court’s jurisdiction.
However, hope for Mr. Shekhar lit up when the Division Bench set aside Justice Dhingra’s judgment and permitted the suit to proceed.
Mr. Tiwari also exhausted all legal avenues to avoid giving his blood sample for the DNA test. Thereafter, he moved the Supreme Court, arguing that he could not be compelled to give his blood sample but got no relief.
Ultimately, he gave his blood sample at his Dehra Dun residence on a Supreme Court direction. The DNA was matched with the blood samples of Mr. Shekhar and Ms. Sharma by Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics.
