Ahmedabad, September 29 (Daily Kiran) : The Gujarat High Court dealt a significant blow to Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), by rejecting his appeal regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree. The court upheld a fine of ₹25,000 imposed on Kejriwal for his challenge against a directive from the Central Information Commission (CIC) that ordered Gujarat University to disclose details about Modi’s educational qualifications.
A division bench, led by Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray, found no grounds to intervene in the single judge’s order issued on March 31, 2023. The bench stated that there were no errors in the challenged decision and dismissed the appeal without imposing any additional penalties.
The court noted that upon reviewing all facts and circumstances, it found no merit in Kejriwal’s arguments against the earlier ruling. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and no further orders regarding the fine were issued.
In March 2023, the single judge had accepted a challenge against the CIC’s 2016 directive, which mandated the university to provide information about Modi’s academic qualifications. The judge also imposed a ₹25,000 fine on Kejriwal.
During the appeal proceedings, Kejriwal’s advocate, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, contested the basis of the fine. He argued that Kejriwal had not made “persistent efforts” to obtain Modi’s degree, contrary to the single judge’s comments.
Singhvi also contended that the CIC had acted on its own accord, making Kejriwal a respondent based on a letter rather than a formal RTI application.
Additionally, Gujarat University claimed that the degree was already available online. Kejriwal’s lawyers had previously argued in a review petition before the single judge that the degree had never been uploaded to the university’s website, but this argument was dismissed.
Singhvi asserted that if the degree was indeed online, then there was no basis for action under the Right to Information Act.
Tushar Mehta, representing Gujarat University, opposed the appeal, arguing that Kejriwal had continuously pursued the matter and held press conferences that allegedly tarnished the university’s reputation. Mehta suggested that imposing fines was necessary to prevent the misuse of the Right to Information Act and to save valuable time for government officials from frivolous requests.
This controversy dates back to 2016 when Kejriwal wrote to the CIC demanding the disclosure of Modi’s degree, stating he had no objection to the release of government records related to himself. He raised concerns about the reasons behind the alleged concealment of Modi’s academic qualifications.
Leave a Comment