New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader N D
Tiwari Friday refused to disclose his preferred mode of DNA
test on him after which the Supreme Court rejected his prayer
for a stay on the medical procedure.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha, which
had asked Tiwari to tell the procedure preferred by him for
the test, then declined to stay the order of the Delhi High
Court in the three-year-old paternity suit filed by a
31-year-old man claiming to be his biological son.
The High Court had earlier asked the Hyderabad-based
Centre for DNA, Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) to
conduct DNA test on 85-year-old Tiwari.
Earlier, the Bench had said that if Tiwari agrees to
undergo the test then the court would ensure that its finding
would not be made public until it is required.
The court had said that considering the age of the
leader, it is necessary to have a DNA test so that the young
man is not left without any remedy if something happens to
Tiwari.
Tiwari, who has held the post of chief minister of
undivided Uttar Pradesh and later of Uttarakhand, contended
that it would be a violation of his right to privacy and would
cause him public humiliation if he is directed to undergo the
DNA test.
He contended that the High Court had committed an
error in passing the order and it should look at other
evidence too to decide the paternity suit rather than focusing
on the DNA test which is not a conclusive evidence.
The Bench then agreed to hear his appeal against the
High Court order for the test and issued notice to 31-year old
Rohit Shekhar who claims to be his biological son but refused
to stay it.
A single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had on
December 23 asked Tiwari to undergo the DNA test on a
paternity suit filed by Rohit, who claims to be his
biological son born out of the leader`s alleged relationship
with his mother Ujjawala Sharma.
The court had asked him to undergo the test saying the
wider interest of a child that he should not be declared a
"bastard" has to be kept in mind.
Tiwari, who was forced to resign as governor after
allegations of sexual misconduct, had countered the charges
claiming that he never had any physical relationship with
Ujjawala, who is also a Congress activist, and Shekhar was not
entitled to seek a DNA test as a matter of right.
PTI
