PM Degree Case: SC Dismisses Arvind Kejriwal's Plea Against Guj HC

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging the high court order rejecting his request to stay the criminal defamation proceedings filed by the Gujarat University over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualification.

Gujarat University Registrar Piyush Patel had filed a defamation case against the AAP Supremo, and AAP leader Sanjay Singh over their alleged comments after the Gujarat High Court set aside an order of the Chief Information Commissioner for providing information about Modi's degrees to them under the RTI Act.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said it is not issuing notice on the plea as the matter is pending before the Gujarat High Court and is listed for hearing on August 29. The bench said the Gujarat University and Kejriwal can raise their grievances before the high court.

At the outset, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said the high court had wrongly refused to grant interim stay on the defamation proceedings against him. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the University, said there was suppression of facts by Kejriwal.

The Gujarat High Court had on August 11 rejected Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh's plea seeking an interim stay on the criminal defamation proceedings against them. A Gujarat metropolitan court had earlier summoned Kejriwal and Singh in the defamation case over their "sarcastic" and "derogatory" statements in connection with PM Modi's degree. The matter is listed for hearing on August 31.

According to the complaint filed by Patel, the two leaders made "defamatory" statements at press conferences and on Twitter handles targeting the university over Modi's degree. Their comments targeting the Gujarat University were defamatory and hurt the prestige of the university which has established its name among the public, the complainant said.