Gujarat HC Rules PM’s Degree Certificates Not Needed, Fines Kejriwal Rs 25K

New Delhi: The Gujarat High Court ruled on Friday that Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) need not furnish Narendra Modi’s degree and postgraduate degree certificates.

A single-judge bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav set aside the Chief Information Commission’s (CIC) order directing the public information officer (PIO) of PMO and PIOs of Gujarat University and Delhi University to furnish details of Modi’s degrees.

The high court, hearing an appeal by Gujarat University challenging the CIC order, also imposed costs of Rs 25,000 on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had sought details of the PM’s degree certificate.

“In a democracy, there won’t be a difference if a person holding the office is a doctorate or an illiterate. Also, there is no public interest involved in this issue. Even his privacy is affected,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Gujarat University, was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.

The argument put forward by Kejriwal’s lawyer Percy Kavina was: “If you see the nomination form (filed during elections), it mentions his educational qualifications. Thus, we are asking for a degree certificate and not his marksheet”.

PM Modi had mentioned he completed his graduation from Gujarat University in 1978 and post-graduation from Delhi University in 1983.