Delhi HC declares Rohit Shekhar as natural son of N D Tiwari

After a six-year legal battle, the Delhi High Court today declared veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari as the biological father of Rohit Shekhar.

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also injuncted Tiwari from denying in public that Shekhar is not his natural born son.

After hearing the verdict, Shekhar's mother broke into tears while he appeared calm and composed.

The court passed the order after taking into account newspaper reports in which Tiwari had admitted that Shekhar is his natural born son.

It also noted in its decree that since Tiwari's counsel did not appear yesterday and today despite being informed about the proceedings, it appeared that the Congress leader did not want to fight the suit filed against him by Shekhar.

Yesterday, Shekhar had submitted before the court copies of recent news reports in which the Congress veteran had reportedly admitted that he was his son.

Advocates Vedant Varma and Vibhor Kush, appearing for the 32-year-old Shekhar had cited a legal provision before the court, saying the law empowers a court to pass a decree on the ground of the admissions made by a defendant.

"We cannot solely rely on media reports," the court had said yesterday, adding that let the counsel for Tiwari, 89, appear before the court tomorrow (April 22) morning for advancing arguments in the case.

Varma had submitted copies of four news reports, published in prominent English dailies on March 4 this year, to the court and said that Tiwari has accepted before the media that Rohit is his son and it was a crucial evidence for passing of a decree.