The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal filed by Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal against a March 2023 order that quashed a Central Information Commission (CIC) direction to disclose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree by Gujarat University.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray found no error in the judgment challenged and dismissed the appeal without imposing any additional costs. The bench reaffirmed the earlier ruling that the CIC’s 2016 directive was set aside.
In March 2023 a single judge had allowed Gujarat University to contest the CIC’s 2016 order, which had directed the university to provide information on Modi’s educational qualifications. The judge quashed the CIC direction, criticizing the commission for “judicial activism.”
The High Court had also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal, citing casual use of RTI provisions. Kejriwal’s counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued that Kejriwal had not persisted in seeking the degree and that the CIC had initiated proceedings suo motu, naming him as a respondent based on a letter rather than a formal RTI application.
Other matters before the court included Gujarat University’s claim that the degree was already available online, a point the single judge had rejected. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the university, contended that Kejriwal’s persistent pursuit and press conferences had defamed the institution, and that costs should deter misuse of the RTI Act. The court’s September 29 order upheld both the quashing of the CIC direction and the Rs 25,000 cost imposed on Kejriwal.
