Tiwari''s plea against HC order for his DNA test dismissed

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court todaydismissed veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari''s appeal againstits earlier order asking him to undergo DNA test on a pleamade by a Delhi youth claiming to be his biological son.

A Division bench of Justice Vikramajit Sen and SiddharthMridul also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Tiwari whiledismissing his plea challenging the court''s single-judgeorder asking him to undergo the DNA test.

"Irreparable loss is bound to visit the plaintiff (RohitShekhar) if the orders under the application are notimmediately passed in as much as the suit itself may berendered infructuous and vital evidence may be lost forever,"the bench said while dismissing the Congress leader''s plea.

A single-judge bench of the high court had on December 23asked the 85-year-old leader to undergo a DNA test on thepaternity suit filed by Delhi youth Rohit Shekhar who claimsto be his biological son born out of the leader''s allegedrelationship with his mother Ujjawala Sharma.

The division bench had on Monday reserved its order onTiwari''s petition, dismissing his plea to suspend thesingle-judge bench''s order at least for the time being so thatthe proposed court proceedings, slated for Tuesday todetermine issues related to withdrawal of his blood sample forDNA test, could be deferred.

Appearing for Tiwari, senior advocate Jayant Bhushan,had sought an interim stay on the December 23 order, arguing"there was no urgency as the petitioner (Rohit) has not soughtany pecuniary relief".

"Can your client (Tiwari) file an affidavit that hewould remain alive for next ten years?" the bench had shotback turning down the plea.

Bhushan had also contended that Tiwari cannot becompelled by the court to give his blood sample and therewere various Supreme Court judgements on the issue.

Bhushan had contended that the single-judge orderasking Tiwari to undergo the test was erroneous as a legal andvalid marriage was subsisting between Ujjwala and Bimal PrasadSharma, the legitimate father of Rohit.

Moreover, Ujjwala and Bimal had access to each other andthere was conclusive proof that Rohit was their legitimatechild, he said.

He also argued that the words paternity and legitimacywere interchangeable and no distinction can be drawn betweenthem.

Rohit''s counsel Sudhir Nandrajog, however, opposedTiwari''s plea saying paternity and legitimacy were twodistinct issues and the single judge had rightly asked him toundergo the test.