PM Modi degree row: Supreme Court refuses to grant relief to Kejriwal in defamation case

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the criminal defamation case filed by the Gujarat University over his comments about the Prime Minister’s degree.

The apex court noted that Kejriwal’s plea to stay the trial is pending in the High Court and expressed hope that the HC will decide the matter on the listed date, i.e. August 29, ANI reported.

The Gujarat High Court had previously declined to grant interim relief to Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in relation to the criminal defamation proceedings initiated against them over their defamatory statements.

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Justice Samir Dave of the High Court held that there cannot be any relief till their revision plea, challenging Metropolitan Court’s order issuing summons to them, in a session court is not disposed of.

It is worth noting that a metropolitan court in Ahmedabad had previously summoned Kejriwal and Singh to appear on August 11 in connection with the defamation case initiated by Gujarat University due to alleged derogatory remarks made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic credentials.

Following their summons Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh then moved the Gujarat High Court seeking a stay on the defamation proceeding. This stay was sought till such time as when the Sessions court rules on another application moved by them challenging the summons issued to them by the Metropolitan court.

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The City Civil & Sessions Court Ahmedabad had on August 5 rejected their plea to stay the proceedings in the trial pending the disposal of their revised plea.

What is the case about?

The Gujarat University (GU) complaint pertains to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree.

Notably, GU registrar Piyush Patel filed a defamation case against the AAP leaders following their comments subsequent to the Gujarat High Court’s nullification of the Chief Information Commissioner’s ruling regarding PM Modi’s degree.

The complaint noted that in press conferences and on Twitter, the AAP leaders made statements deemed “defamatory” by the complainant. The statements targeted the university’s handling of Modi’s degree.

The complaint further asserted that their remarks against Gujarat University were both defamatory and aimed at tarnishing the institution’s reputation.

(With inputs from agencies)