Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Delhi University (DU) BA degree will not be public. The Delhi High Court on Monday overturned the Central Information Commission (CIC) order.
Justice Sachin Dutta of Delhi High Court pronounced the verdict on DU’s petition on Monday. It said that the university is not obliged to show the degree.
In fact, CIC ordered Delhi University to make the records of all the students who passed the BA examination in 1978 on the petition of an RTI activist in 2016.
PM Modi also passed the exam this year. Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for RTI activist, argued-
Here, on behalf of DU, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented the side and said that I cannot consider curiosity as the basis of seeking information through RTI.
PM Modi DU degree dispute 9 years old
The matter began in 2016, when RTI worker Neeraj Kumar sought the name, roll number, points and pass-fails of all the students who passed BA in 1978 from DU. That year PM Modi also mentions passing BA.
DU refused to give information, describing it as personal information. However, CIC had said that this information should be made public, because the university is a public institution and the details of the degree are considered to be a public document.
DU’s argument- students’ information confidential
DU challenged this order in the Delhi High Court in 2017 and said that the personal information of the students comes under the “Fiduciary Capacity” (confidential information kept in trust), which cannot be given to a stranger.
The university also said that there is no objection to the court to show the record, but it cannot be made public. At the same time, the High Court stayed the first date of hearing, the CIC order on 24 January 2017.
Controversy over Modi’s Gujarat University degree, Kejriwal told fake
Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Sanjay Singh raised questions about Prime Minister Modi’s degree during a press conference in March 2023. These degrees were released from Gujarat University.
The registrar of Gujarat University had registered a defamation case against the two leaders, which the Ahmedabad court had sent summons to Kejriwal and asked him to appear in the court.
Kejriwal reached the Gujarat High Court against Saman, where his petition was dismissed. After this, Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court. The court refused to stay the action.
