New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging a Gujarat High Court order which had refused to quash summons in a criminal defamation case filed against him by Gujarat University for questioning the educational qualifications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti said that the top court was not inclined to interfere with the matter since a similar plea by co-accused AAP leader Sanjay Singh had been dismissed on April 8.
“The complaint filed by respondent (Gujarat University) pertained not only to the present petitioner but also Sanjay Singh whose plea was dismissed by this court on April 8, 2024. We must be consistent with that approach,” the bench stated.
“We would not like to entertain the present plea. The same is dismissed,” the court pronounced.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Kejriwal, argued that the former Delhi CM’s case was different from that of Sanjay and sought time to present a chart distinguishing their matters.
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The court said it was willing to examine the arguments, but once it does so, Kejriwal won’t be allowed to withdraw his petition.
Singhvi claimed that the defamation case lacked merit as Kejriwal’s statement only sought to question why the educational degree of the highest chief of executive of the country was kept a secret when the University should forward and acknowledge that a person who studied here has become the Prime Minister.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for university registrar Piyush Patel, replied that the degree has been uploaded on the website and even a related order passed by the Central Information Commission to provide the degree has been quashed by the Gujarat high court.
The complaint against Kejriwal and Singh was based on their press conference on April 2, 2023, two days after Gujarat High Court set aside an order passed by the chief information commissioner directing Gujarat University to produce a copy of the post-graduate degree of PM Modi to applicant Kejriwal under the right to information (RTI) Act. The university claimed it was available on its website, a fact that was denied by the AAP leaders at the press conference.