Setback for Tiwari as HC decides to hear paternity suit

In a setback to veteran Congress leader and former Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed his plea and decided to hear a paternity suit filed by a man claiming to be his biological son.

In a setback to veteran Congress leader and former Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed his plea and decided to hear a paternity suit filed by a man claiming to be his biological son.

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A bench headed by Justice Vikramjit Sen turned down the plea of Tiwari, who sought dismissal of the petition on ground that it was filed 31 years after the petitioner was born in order to malign his character.

He had also contended that the HC had no jurisdiction to hear the case Rohit Shekhar, grandson of a former Union minister, filed the suit claiming that he was born out of an extramarital relationship between his mother, Ujjwala Sharma, and Tiwari — a charge denied
by the 84-year-old Congress leader.

Shekar has urged the court to issue a direction to Tiwari to undergo a DNA test.

The court has directed all parties to appear before a single-judge bench on April 7 when the suit will be heard.

The court, which had earlier hinted that Tiwari might have to undergo DNA test to decide the issue, set aside a single bench order which had dismissed the paternity suit filed by Sekhar, a law graduate, on the ground that the suit is time barred and not maintainable.

“Since the rejection or repudiation of parentage by him occurred in Delhi, it is meritless to contend that court has no jurisdiction,” the court said.

“The plaint is replete with incidents which have transpired at his residence in Delhi.”

The court also rejected Tiwari’s contention that Sekhar should have filed the petition within three years after becoming major in 1997.