ND Tiwari's plea in paternity suit declined by Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court today declined the plea of veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari to issue notice to a young man claiming to be his biological son seeking deletion of new information added in the paternity suit.

The Delhi High Court on Monday declined the plea of veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari to issue notice to a young man claiming to be his biological son seeking deletion of new information added in the paternity suit.

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Tiwari, former Andhra Pradesh Governor, moved an application seeking a direction to Rohit Shekhar for deleting a paragraph in which he claimed that in December 2005 he had made a request at the IGI Airport in Delhi to meet him.

The 84-year-old leader said when Rohit (31), who is claiming himself to be his biological son, had filed the lawsuit in 2007 on the issue, he had not mentioned the fact that he had tried to meet him at the airport in 2005.

"The court did not grant permission to him to file a fresh petition after incorporating the new facts into the suit," Tiwari said referring to the March 2008 order of the court.

However, Rohit's counsel contended that Tiwari was adopting a delaying tactics and opposed his plea.

"This issue was not raised for past more than two years and by raising it now he has adopted a delaying tactic," he submitted.

Justice J R Midha, who declined Tiwari's plea, fixed July 16 for hearing the application.

Rohit, in the lawsuit, has alleged that his request to meet Tiwari was deliberately turned down.

Tiwari said the suit was withdrwan by Rohit's counsel on technical ground following High Court's permission.

The High Court has already fixed July 30 for framing the issues in the suit and asked all the parties involved in the case to file their responses within four weeks.

The apex court had on May 10 had dismissed the appeal filed by Tiwari challenging High Court's decision to adjudicate the paternity suit.

Rohit claimed that he was born out of a relationship between his mother Ujjwala Sharma and Tiwari, a charge denied by the Congress leader.

Tiwari had earlier refused to undergo DNA test on Rohit's plea and denied ever having any physical relationship with his mother.

He had to resign as Governor after he was purportedly shown in a sting operation to be in a compromising position with three women.

Earlier, the High Court had dismissed the plea by Tiwari who sought dismissal of the petition on the ground that it was filed 31 years after the petitioner was born in order to malign his character.