Arguing that a court order could not force him to undergo DNA test,veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari refused to show up in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday to give his blood sample for the test to ascertain 31-year-old Rohit Shekhars claim of being his biological son. Notwithstanding the courts May 10 order directing him to give his blood sample in the court dispensary on Wednesday,the 86-year-old politician failed to appear and instead moved an application through his lawyer. The key line of the application read: Nobody can be pressurised to give evidence in this manner. Tiwaris counsel filed the plea before Joint Registrar Deepak Garg and sought exemption from complying with the previous order and also from his personal appearance. The Joint Registrar referred the matter to the regular court,which had passed the order for the test,and fixed July 7 to decide Tiwaris plea for exemption. During the brief hearing,the counsel for Shekhar,who claims to be Tiwaris son born out of his relationship with Ujjwala Sharma,opposed the plea,saying Tiwari was 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 very old, argued Rohits counsel. Tiwari deposited with the court Rs 25,000,as a cost imposed on him during an earlier judicial proceeding for seeking deletion of a paragraph from Shekharts paternity suit.
