HC asks Tiwari's response on plea for his DNA test

The Delhi High Court today sought response from veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari on why DNA test should not be conducted on him to ascertain the allegation made by a man claiming to be his biological son.

Justice J R Midha also directed the 83-year old politician to file a "specific" response on each photograph in which Tiwari is seen with the young man Rohit Shekhar and his mother.

Giving a deadline of four weeks to file response, the Court said that Tiwari will have to personally appear before it in case he fails to file a written reply.

The court passed the order on a paternity suit filed by Shekhar, grandson of a former Union minister, claiming that he was born out of a relationship between his mother Ujjwala Sharma and Tiwari, a charge denied by the Congress leader.

Earlier, the High Court dismissed the plea of 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.

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

"Human relation cannot be treated in the same manner as commercial or civil transaction. An infidelity by a spouse is condoned by a subsequent conjugation," the court had said while directing all parties to appear before the single judge.

"We think that in the vicissitude of personal relations that is an untenable position to adopt. The court cannot delve into the mind of the plaintiff (Shekhar) in order to ascertain the time at which he felt that he had no alternative but to go to the extreme of moving the court which is always a point of no return," the court had said.