Apparently embarrassed by the Delhi High Court's paternity verdict against him, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister N D Tiwari today refused to face the media saying it should not be made an issue but asserted that he has no grudge against Rohit Shekhar.

"Yeh mera niji mamla hai, ise tul na dein. (This is my personal matter. Don't make it an issue)," he said in a statement here hours after the Delhi High Court said the DNA report confirmed Tiwari as the biological father of 32-year- old Delhi-based youth Rohit Shekhar.

Tiwari, however, refused to face the media with his OSD Bhavani Dutt Bhatt only distributing copies of his statement to journalists outside his residence. The 87-year-old veteran Congress leader said he never wanted to create any controversy from the bottom his heart and soul.

"Due to my simplicity, at this point of my age, my trusted people hatched a conspiracy against me in a planned way. I have no remorse against them. My sympathy is with Mr Rohit Shekhar. I also have no grudge against Mr Rohit Shekhar," he said.