New Delhi, Jun 1: Veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari today refused to appear in a Delhi High Court dispensary to give his blood sample for DNA test to ascertain a youth's claim of being his biological son, saying that he cannot be forced to do so.
Notwithstanding the high court's May 10 order directing him to give his blood sample today, he said in an application that "Nobody can be pressurised to give evidence in this manner".
The counsel for the 85-year-old leader made the submission to the Joint Registrar Deepak Garg seeking exemption from personal appearance and also from giving his blood sample.
The Joint Registrar has now referred the matter before the regular court on July 7 to decide Tiwari's plea for exemption.
The counsel for 31-year-old Rohit Shekhar, who claims to be Tiwari's son, however, vehemently opposed the plea saying the Congress leader is "trying to wriggle out of the judicial proceedings in an unfair manner."
"Not only the single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court but also its division bench and even the Supreme Court have asked Tiwari to undergo the DNA test on the ground that the crucial evidence in the case may be lost forever because of the fact that he is 85-year-old," Rohit's counsel said.
Meanwhile, Tiwari deposited with the court Rs 25,000, as fine imposed on him during an earlier judicial proceeding.
The Delhi High Court had imposed the fine on Tiwari in August, 2010 for seeking deletion of a paragraph from Rohit's paternity suit.
Tiwari, who held the post of chief minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh and later of Uttarakhand, was ordered by the High Court's joint registrar earlier to give his blood sample at the court's dispensary today.
Tiwari, who held several top posts at the Centre, quit as Andhra Pradesh Governor in December 2009 over allegations of his involvement in a sex scandal.
The court official on May 10 had also asked Rohit Shekhar, who claims to be Tiwari's biological son and his mother Ujjwala Sharma, to come to the court's dispensary to give their respective blood samples for the test.
Though Rohit reported to the court's dispensary along with his mother, Tiwari gave it a miss.
On a paternity suit by Rohit, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had on December 23 last year asked Tiwari to undergo the DNA test for ascertaining the veracity of Rohit's claim that he is Tiwari's biological son.
Refuting Rohit's claim, Tiwari had challenged the high court's single-judge bench order before its division bench, which too had rejected his appeal, following which he had gone in for a second round of appeal to the apex court on February 28.
But, the apex court too on March 14 had refused to stay the high court's order for his DNA test. However, in a relief to him, the court said that the result of the test will not be made public unless it is required. PTI
