Legal
PM Modi's Degree Defamation Case: Setback For Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh As Gujarat HC Refuses To Grant Interim Relief
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Gujarat High Court has refused to grant interim relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation case filed by Gujarat University.
The Court declined to stay the proceedings in a criminal defamation complaint filed by Gujarat University in relation to Prime Minister Modi's degree case, reports The Hindu.
Kejriwal and Singh had approached the Gujarat High Court seeking a stay on the criminal defamation proceedings against them.
In the defamation case filed by Gujarat University, a metropolitan court had summoned Kejriwal and Singh on 11 August. The case was based on their "sarcastic" and "derogatory" statement regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree.
Challenging the summons issued by the metropolitan court, Kejriwal and Singh filed a revision application in the sessions court in relation to the defamation case.
The sessions court rejected their request for interim relief during the pendency of their main application. As a result, they decided to approach the Gujarat High Court.
Following the Gujarat High Court's earlier decision to set aside the Chief Information Commissioner's order on PM Modi's degree, Gujarat University's registrar Piyush Patel filed a defamation case against the two leaders over their comments.
The complainant stated that the two leaders made "defamatory" statements, targeting the university over PM Modi's degree, both in press conferences and on Twitter.
Their comments targeting the Gujarat University were defamatory and hurt the prestige of the university which has established its name among the public, the complainant added.
The statements by Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh were sarcastic and deliberately intended to damage the university's prestige, he said.
According to the complainant, Kejriwal made comments such as, "If there is a genuine degree, why is it not being given?", "They are withholding the degree because it might be fake", and "If the Prime Minister studied at Delhi University and Gujarat University, then Gujarat University should celebrate that its student became the country's PM", among others.
Singh accused Gujarat University of attempting to prove the Prime Minister's "fake degree as genuine", according to the complainant.
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