Ending the long drama surrounding the country’s first-ever paternity suit involving a political figure, veteran Congress leader N.D. Tiwari was on Friday officially declared the biological father of 32-year-old Rohit Shekhar by the Delhi high court, which made public the result of a DNA test conducted on the politician.
“Yes, N.D. Tiwari is the biological father of Rohit Shekhar,” Justice Reva Khetrapal announced to a packed courtroom, giving relief to Mr Shekhar and his mother Ujjwala Sharma after their five-year legal battle.
Mr Tiwari’s last attempt to prevent DNA test result from becoming public failed as, earlier Friday, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.S. Endlaw rejected his plea against the single judge’s order that she would open the DNA report in open court.
Mr Tiwari, in Dehra Dun, refused to speak to the media but in a statement said there was a “conspiracy” to malign him. Mr Tiwari said it was a “personal matter” and the nation “need not waste its time” over it. “Due to my simplicity, my trusted people hatched a conspiracy,” the statement said, adding: “I have no remorse against them. My sympathy is with Rohit Shekhar. I also have no grudge against Rohit Shekhar”.
Delhi-based Rohit Shekhar told reporters this verdict was only “the beginning of legal troubles” for Mr Tiwari: “He will now have to answer for every trouble caused to me and my mother... I am not his illegitimate child, he is my illegitimate father.”