Modi’s Academic Degree: Gujarat High Court Dismisses Kejriwal Appeal

India-West News Desk

AHMEDABAD-The Gujarat High Court on September 29 dismissed Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against an earlier order that set aside a Central Information Commission directive seeking information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree and ordered Kejriwal to pay Rs 25,000 in costs.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray found no grounds to interfere with the single-judge order.

The appeal included a challenge to the cost. His lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued that

Another issue was whether Modi’s degree was already available online. Gujarat University had told the single judge that it was available on its website. Kejriwal’s lawyers later argued in a review petition that the degree itself had not been uploaded, but the plea was rejected. Singhvi said that if the degree was publicly available, there would be no continuing cause for the RTI proceedings.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat University, argued that Kejriwal had pursued the matter persistently and had held press conferences that, according to the University, defamed the institution.

The case dates to 2016, when Kejriwal wrote to the CIC seeking information about Modi’s educational qualifications. In May 2016, then Gujarat University Vice Chancellor M N Patel said Modi had completed an MA in Political Science in 1983 with 62.3 per cent as an external student. The University later posted the degree on its website.

On March 31, 2023, the High Court’s single-judge bench quashed the CIC directive and imposed the cost on Kejriwal. He then challenged the order before the division bench, which has now dismissed his appeal.