In fresh trouble for disgraced former Andhra Pradesh governor, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, the Delhi high court (HC) decided on Wednesday to admit an appeal in a paternity suit filed against him by a 30-year-old man, Rohit Shekhar, claiming to be his biological son.
A division bench of justices Vikramjit Sen and Manmohan Singh dismissed the veteran Congress leader’s plea to dismiss the petition on grounds of court’s “territorial jurisdiction” and “maintainability of the suit”. The bench has fixed April 7 for next hearing “on merits”.
Tiwari was recently forced to resign from his gubernatorial office after his name came up in a sex-scandal.
On November 3, 2009, the high court had dismissed Shekhar’s paternity suit observing that it wasn’t “maintainable” as the case was “time barred”. A paternity suit must be filed within three years from becoming a major and Shekhar had filed the case after a gap of 12 years.
However, rejecting HC order, the division bench said, “In the circumstances brought before us, the mere fact that the plaintiff had not filed a suit within three years would not result in the present suit becoming time barred. 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.”
Following the court’s order, Shekhar told DNA, “I want Tiwari to publicly apologise to my mother and to me for the years of humiliation and agony we faced because of him. As for why I filed the case now and not when I turned 18, I can only say that I am not asking permission for a driving licence or for having liquor. I want my fundamental right of recognition of paternity by Tiwari, who, I know, is my father.”
Shekhar has also demanded a DNA test to verify his paternity claims.
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