Congress leader and former Andhra governor N.D. Tiwari, who for years refused to undergo a DNA test after a young man claimed to be his biological son, was on Friday ordered by the Delhi high court to give his blood sample in the paternity suit filed against him.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Rahai Endlaw set aside the order by a single bench of the high court which ruled earlier that Mr Tiwari, 86, could not be compelled to undergo a DNA test.
The high court further said Friday that police assistance could be sought and “reasonable force” used in case of non-compliance with the order by Mr Tiwari.
After exhaustive arguments by both sides, the court also imposed costs of `25,000 on Mr Tiwari.
The court was critical of the single judge who on September 23, 2011 held that asking Mr Tiwari to undergo a DNA test to ascertain the paternity of Rohit Shekhar, 32, was “unimplementable and unenforceable”.
The bench held the single judge’s ruling that the order asking Mr Tiwari to give his blood sample was unimplementable as it was fraught with physical coercion and intrusion on his rights under Article 21 (right to life) was not envisaged in any statutory provision governing civil litigation. If an illegal occupant can be physically removed by the police following a court order, why can’t a person be forced to give a blood sample in compliance with a judicial order with use of force, the court asked.
Referring to various Supreme Court rulings, the bench said judicial orders are “intended” to be complied with as a court would never pass an “ineffective injunction order”.