Tiwari paternity row: B P Sharma not Rohit's father, says Lab

 A DNA report, placed before the Delhi High Court today, said that Rohit Sekhar, who claimed to be veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari's biological son, was not fathered by the man whom his mother had married.

The report of the Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA, Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) on DNA profiling of Rohit, his mother Ujjawala Sharma and her husband B P Sharma was placed in a sealed cover before Justice Reva Khetrapal and was read over by a court staff in the packed courtroom.

B P Sharma is not the biological father of 31-year-old Rohit whose DNA profile matched with his mother Ujjawala, the report of the laboratory, which was asked by the court to conduct tests on them including Tiwari, said.

The development may buttress the allegation of Rohit that Sharma was not his biological father and it was Tiwari who fathered him.

Tiwari, however, did not obey the court's direction and chose to contest the order to undergo the DNA test saying a person cannot be compelled to give evidence against himself that too in a civil case.

During the hearing, Justice Khetrapal today asked the counsel for Tiwari to file his response to the contempt plea of Rohit for "deliberate disobedience" of its earlier order asking him to provide his blood sample for the DNA test to decide the paternity suit.

The court then fixed the matter on March 30 for filing of response by Tiwari.
However, Justice Gita Mittal, the predecessor judge, had earlier said that Tiwari cannot be compelled to give his blood sample and at best, the denial would be held against him at the time of appreciation of evidence in the case.

Rohit had challenged the order before a two-judge bench of the high court.
Earlier, the high court had asked the CDFD to conduct DNA test on 86-year-old Tiwari to ascertain the plea of Rohit.

The octogenarian leader had failed to get reprieve from the high court and the Supreme Court which said that the DNA test be conducted and any delay may lead to loss of crucial evidence forever.

However, the apex court had made clear that the findings of the test would not be made public until and unless it was required to decide the paternity suit against Tiwari.

Refusing to grant any relief, it had said considering the age of the leader, it was necessary to have a DNA test so that the young man claiming to be his son is not left without any remedy if something happens to Tiwari.

Rohit, in his declaratory suit, claimed that he was born out of Tiwari's alleged relationship with his mother.

He had annexed various photographs and the DNA profiling reports of himself, his mother and her legal husband B P Sharma in support of his plea.

Justice S Ravindra Bhat, who was then presiding over the court, however, did not rely on the DNA tests reports and ordered a court-monitored tests on them including Tiwari.

Tiwari, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, who had also held key ministerial portfolios at the Centre, was forced to resign as Andhra Pradesh governor in 2009 amid allegations of sexual misconduct against him following the airing of a sting operation in news channels purportedly with some women.