NEW DELHI: Gujarat high court on Tuesday rejected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal in the case related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree.A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray upheld the single judge’s order. It also retained the Rs 25,000 cost imposed on Kejriwal.The single judge had quashed a 2016 Central Information Commission (CIC) directive asking Gujarat University to disclose details of PM Modi’s degree.“In the totality of facts and circumstances of the present case, no error on any of the submissions of the appellant hearing can be found in the judgment impugned. The appeal stands dismissed accordingly with no further order as to cost,” the high court said.Kejriwal’s counsel, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, challenged the basis for imposing the cost.He argued that his client had not “persisted” in seeking PM Modi’s degree, as observed by the single judge.Singhvi also said the CIC had initiated the proceedings on its own and named Kejriwal as a respondent based on a letter, not a formal application.The counsel further argued that if the degree was available online, it should fall within the scope of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He said the cause of action would then cease to exist.Gujarat University had told the single judge that the degree was already available online. However, Kejriwal’s lawyers later argued in a review petition that it had never been uploaded. The single judge rejected that plea.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat University, argued that Kejriwal had pursued the case relentlessly and held press conferences to defame the institution.Mehta urged the high court to impose costs on Kejriwal for filing the appeal. He said this would help prevent misuse of the RTI Act and stop government officials from spending working hours on requests that did not serve the law’s purpose.In 2016, Kejriwal wrote to the CIC, saying he had no objection to government records about him being made public. He also questioned why the commission wanted to “hide” information about PM Modi’s educational qualifications.Based on the letter, the then CIC, M Sridhar Acharyulu, directed Delhi University and Gujarat University in April 2016 to provide information about PM Modi’s degrees to Kejriwal.The universities challenged the order in the high court. Three months later, the court stayed the CIC directive.
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In May 2016, then Gujarat University vice-chancellor MN Patel said PM Modi had completed his MA in Political Science in 1983, securing 62.3 per cent as an external student.Gujarat University later published the degree on its website and challenged the CIC order in the high court.On March 31, 2023, a single-judge bench quashed the CIC directive. It also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal and criticised his approach to the RTI proceedings as casual.The bench also pulled up the CIC for what it described as “judicial activism”. Kejriwal then challenged the order before the division bench.
