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Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, embroiled in the educational qualifications row, today faced a big embarrassment with a Delhi court taking cognizance of a complaint against her for allegedly misrepresenting facts in her election affidavits, prompting demands for her sacking from the Opposition. Fixing the matter for hearing on August 28, Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain said, "It is held that the present complaint case is filed under limitation (of time). Cognizance is taken. The matter be now fixed for pre-summoning evidence on August 28.". Complaint was filed by freelance writer Ahmer Khan. Khan alleged that Irani, in her three affidavits before the Election Commission (EC) while filing nominations for her candidature for Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha polls, had purportedly given different details about her educational qualifications. Underer Section 125A of Representation of People Act, the penalty for filing false affidavit entails a jail term of up to six months or fine or both. Here are 5 top reactions: (PTI)
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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) invokes Osama in Smriti Irani educational qualifications controversy </br> </br> The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today demanded the sacking of Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and said she should get a similar treatment as meted out to former Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar. Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said the Centre should show similar promptness in Smriti Irani's case the way it did in arresting Tomar. Taking a jibe at the Centre, Ashutosh said, "We ask the Narendra Modi government and the Delhi Police to show similar honesty and promptness as it showed in Tomar's case. The way a police case was registered against him at 3 AM in the night and he was arrested as if he was terrorist Osama (Bin Laden). "There is no doubt that Irani submitted a different affidavit in 2004, in 2013 while contesting Rajya Sabha election and during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. She should be arrested in a similar way as being the Union Minister she has lied while taking the oath," the journalist-turned politician said. "The Prime Minister should sack Irani, Tawde, Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje as it claims a moral high ground," AAP's Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey said. (PTI)
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NSUI stages protest to demand Smriti Irani's resignation </br> </br> Congress students' wing NSUI today staged a protest outside Shastri Bhavan here demanding immediate resignation of HRD Minister Smriti Irani after court took cognisance of a complaint filed against her for allegedly giving false information about her educational qualification. "We want the immediate resignation of Smriti Irani. The education minister of the country having a question mark on her educational degree is a huge disgrace. We want the government to remove Irani the way Delhi government removed its former minister Jitender Tomar," said Delhi Youth Congress President Amit Malik, who also took part in the protest. They also burnt her effigy outside the building in which her office is located. "We consider this as a dark day in the history of this country that the education minister herself is being probed for her fake educational qualifications," said Amrish Ranjan Pandey, national spokesperson of NSUI. (PTI)
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BJP blames Smriti Irani educational qualifications case on a 'typo' </br> </br> The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today blamed "typographical error" for the alleged false information on educational qualification submitted by HRD Minister Smriti Irani and rejected any comparison between her and AAP leader Jitender Singh Tomar who has been jailed in a fake degree case. "One should know the difference between a fake document and a typographical error. This case (relating to Smriti Irani) is not for fake documents," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said. He added that the court has only taken cognizance of the complaint and asked the person who has filed the complaint that "you have to give pre-summoning evidence as to why she should be summoned. Why hue and cry over something which has not gone to the level of verdict?" (PTI)
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Degree row: 'Irani has no moral, legal right to continue as HRD min' </br> </br>Opposition parties today demanded the removal of HRD Minister Smriti Irani, saying she has no "moral, constitutional or legal" right to continue in her post after a Delhi court took cognisance of a complaint that she gave false information about her educational qualification. "It is apparent that the country's education minister is lying about her own education. What will happen to the future of millions of children in the country. Smriti Irani has no moral, constitutional or legal right to continue in her post for even a day," said Congress's chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala. "After a court has prima facie found a cognisable case against her, we demand that Irani must resign forthwith or be dismissed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. Surjewala said it was "unfortunate" that there are question marks over the educational degrees of both the HRD Minister and the Minister of State in the ministry under Modi government. MoS HRD, Ram Shankar Katheria, has been accused of mark-sheet forgery. "How does Modi government propose to run education when the educational degrees of the education ministers themselves are under question. Naturally, under any investigation, DU comes under HRD ministry. Definitely as Education Minister, she will influence the conduct and course of investigation," he said. (PTI)
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Smriti Irani educational qualifications controversy: You cannot compare oranges and apples, says Nalin Kohli </br> </br> Congress drew a parallel in the educational qualifications cases of Smriti Irani and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Jitendra Singh Tomar who resigned as a minister in Delhi government after his arrest. "You cannot compare oranges and apples. In the case of Tomar, there is a police investigation which has proved beyond doubt that there is a criminal act of a fake degree, going ahead and contesting an election on it and then being the Law Minister," another BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. He said that in the case of Smriti Irani, the court has spoken about maintainability of the complaint, which is the first step of a legal process as to whether there is a ground in terms of jurisdiction. "It has neither any implication on conviction nor exoneration." (PTI)
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