SC dismisses Tiwari plea against paternity test

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed politician N D Tiwari’s objections to a paternity test after one Rohit Shekhar claimed he was the son of the veteran Congress leader.

To the objection of Tiwari to the test, the Supreme Court asked: “Can you give us one reason why you are avoiding the test?”

The apex court said he could put an end to the controversy after undergoing the test.

Tiwari thus might be subjected to the test through sampling of his saliva or hair follicles.

The Delhi High Court had on Dec 23 last ordered former Andhra Pradesh governor ND Tiwari to undergo a DNA test.

Rohit Shekhar had claimed that he was Tiwari’s son born to Congress activist Ujjwala Sharma and wanted a declaration to that effect.

Shekhar had claimed that Tiwari began neglecting him and his mother after 1995 and refused to meet him after becoming the Uttaranchal chief minister. He wanted a DNA test to confirm his biological father.

However, the Congressman maintained that he never had ?any relationship? with Ujjwala.

Tiwari argued that a paternity test would be violation of his privacy and the result is often incorrect.

Tiwari’s five-decade-old political career came to a virtual end after a news channel in 2009 showed clippings of an elderly man purported to be Tiwari in bed with three young women. A few days later, Tiwari, always a man of controversy, resigned as the Andhra Pradesh governor citing health grounds.