Court dismisses Tiwari plea on paternity suit

Months after granting a reprieve to veteran Congress leader and former Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari,the Delhi High Court on Wednesday reversed its order....

Months after granting a reprieve to veteran Congress leader and former Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari,the Delhi High Court on Wednesday reversed its order,holding it was legally appropriate to adjudicate a paternity suit filed by a man claiming to be his biological son.

A Division Bench headed by Justice Vikramjit Sen dismissed Tiwaris plea seeking dismissal of the petition on the ground that it was filed 31 years after the petitioner was born only

with an intent to malign his character and that the suit was also not legally maintainable.

Story continues below this ad

Rohit Shekhar,grandson of a former Union minister,had filed the suit claiming that he was born out of a relationship between Tiwari and his mother Ujjwala Sharma,a charge denied by the 84-year-old Congress leader. 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 last November saying it was time-barred and not maintainable because of lack of territorial jurisdiction.

Since the rejection or repudiation of parentage by him occurred in Delhi,it is meritless to contend that court has no jurisdiction, the Division Bench said,further adding,The plaint is replete with incidents which have transpired at his residence in Delhi. The court also rejected Tiwaris contention that Sekhar should have filed the petition within three years of becoming a major in 1997.

Human relations cannot be treated in the same manner as commercial or civil transactions. An infidelity by a spouse is condoned by a subsequent conjugation, the court said,while directing all parties to appear before the single bench on April 7 when the suit will be heard on merits.