Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Moves Gujarat HC for Review of PM Modi's Degree Case

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking a review of the judgment that set aside the Chief Information Commission's (CIC) directive to provide Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree.

The judgment also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal for allegedly persistently seeking the degree.

Justice Biren Vaishnav, a single bench, has admitted the petition and issued notices returnable on June 30. Kejriwal has requested a stay on the execution of the judgment passed on March 31, citing "errors apparent on the face of the record."

In the review petition, Kejriwal raised two main issues. First, he claimed that he never persisted in seeking the Prime Minister's degree as he did not file any application for information on the degree. The petition argues that the CIC took up the matter suo motu, and Kejriwal should not be considered an applicant. Therefore, the cost imposed on him is an error on the record.

Second, Kejriwal questioned the claim made by Gujarat University that PM Modi's graduation degree is displayed on its website. In the previous judgment, Justice Vaishnav referred to the university's claim to support the argument that Kejriwal should not have persisted in seeking the degree because it was already available on the website.

Kejriwal contended that despite searching for the degree on the website, it was not found. However, a document referred to as OR (Office Register) was found, which has a different format from a degree. The petition argues that the statement by the university claiming the degree was on the website, which influenced the court's observation, is incorrect and constitutes an error on the face of the record. Permitting such errors would lead to a failure of justice, according to the petition.

On March 31, Justice Vaishnav had quashed the CIC's direction and ruled that PM Modi's educational degrees were exempted from disclosure under the RTI Act due to the absence of any larger public interest. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal for persistently seeking such information through RTI. The court noted that Gujarat University had orally submitted that the degree was publicly accessible on its website.

In 2016, Gujarat University had approached the high court against the CIC's direction to provide information on PM Modi's post-graduation degree to Arvind Kejriwal. The CIC commissioner at the time, M Sridhar Acharyulu, had also directed the Prime Minister's Office to provide information on Modi's degrees to both Gujarat University and Delhi University. Kejriwal had not filed a formal RTI application, but the CIC treated his response as an application and issued notices to the PMO, Gujarat University, and Delhi University. Kejriwal is also facing a criminal defamation case for alleged derogatory remarks on Gujarat University regarding the PM's degree. He, along with Sanjay Singh from his party, is expected to appear before a court in Ahmedabad on July 13.