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Congress leader N D Tiwari was on Monday asked by the Delhi high court to appear in person on May 26 before it to give blood sample for a DNA test to decide the paternity suit of a man claiming to be his son.
"Defendent number 1 (Tiwari) is directed to appear on May 26 at 12 noon along with his two photographs," Joint Registrar of Delhi high court, Deepak Garg, said, adding that the court should not rush to take police assistance for enforcing its order.
Eighty-six-year-old Tiwari "be given an opportunity to voluntarily comply with the order," Garg said and asked the medical chief of the dispensary, located inside the high court premises, to appoint a doctor for collecting the blood sample on May 26, the next date of hearing.
The court's direction came after it was informed that the requisite DNA kit has been received by the high court registry from Hyderabad-based lab Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics.
Justice Reva Khetrapal of the high court had on May 16 ordered its registrar to take police assistance for bringing the defiant veteran Congress leader here for taking his blood sample to decide the paternity suit.
Justice Khetrapal had came down heavily on the counsel representing the Dehradun-based Congress leader, after he sought adjournment of hearing on the ground that a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on the issue.
The court had said that considering the age of Tiwari, the order of taking the blood sample is required to be implemented "as expeditiously as possible otherwise an irreparable loss is bound to visit the plaintiff".
The court's directions came on the plea of 32-year-old Rohit Shekhar seeking to compel Tiwari to furnish his blood sample at the earliest to decide the four-year-old paternity suit. He has sought a judicial declaration that Tiwari is his biological father.
The high court had on May 14 asked Tiwari to inform it within two days as to whether he wants to voluntarily give his blood sample for DNA test in the paternity suit or police
force be used for obtaining it.
Justice Khetrapal had also told the counsel for Tiwari that his client will not leave India till he gives his blood sample for the requisite DNA test in the matter in the wake of orders of the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court.
Tiwari, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, was earlier directed by the high court and the apex court to furnish a blood sample for the DNA test.
The court was hearing a fresh plea by Shekhar against Tiwari, a former Governor of Andhra Pradesh, seeking that he be asked to give the blood sample to ascertain whether he was the biological father of the petitioner.
The veteran leader had recently suffered set backs in the high court and the Supreme Court in his bid to avoid giving his blood sample.
A two-judge bench of the high court had said that even police force could be used for compelling Tiwari to comply with the earlier order in the case as non-implementation of judicial orders would make courts a "laughing stock".
Tiwari had moved the apex court against the order but he could not get any relief.
"Enough is enough. You (Tiwari) were not present on earlier occasions. Having regard to your age, we had told you to give sample in a sealed cover. We gave you protection under Article 21, but enough is enough," justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad had said.
Shekhar had moved the fresh plea that the court should appoint a commissioner to take Tiwari's blood sample with assistance from police, as mandated by the April 27 order.