The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday dismissed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against a 2023 order that quashed a Central Information Commission (CIC) direction seeking disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree by Gujarat University. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray also upheld the Rs 25,000 cost imposed on Kejriwal by the single judge, while dismissing the appeal without imposing any additional cost.

The bench found no error in the March 31, 2023 judgment challenged by Kejriwal. The single judge had allowed Gujarat University’s challenge to the CIC’s 2016 direction and set aside the order requiring the university to provide information concerning Modi’s educational qualifications. The court had also imposed the Rs 25,000 cost, observing that the provisions of the Right to Information Act had been approached casually and misused.

During the appeal proceedings, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, challenged the basis for imposing the cost. He argued that Kejriwal had not persisted in seeking Modi’s degree, contrary to the observation made by the single judge. Singhvi also submitted that the CIC had initiated the proceedings suo motu and had made Kejriwal a respondent on the basis of a letter rather than a formal RTI application.

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The proceedings also involved the question of whether Modi’s degree was already available online. Kejriwal’s lawyers had argued in a review petition before the single judge that the degree had not actually been uploaded on the university’s website, but the plea was rejected. Singhvi argued that if the degree was available online, there would be no surviving cause of action under the RTI Act, particularly if the university had already made the information public.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat University, opposed the appeal and argued that Kejriwal had pursued the matter relentlessly. He also referred to press conferences held by Kejriwal, which the university alleged had defamed the institution. Mehta submitted that costs were necessary to discourage misuse of the RTI Act and prevent government officials from spending productive working hours dealing with requests that did not serve the purpose of the legislation.

The dispute dates back to 2016, when Kejriwal wrote to the CIC seeking disclosure of Modi’s degree and questioned why information about the Prime Minister’s educational qualifications was being withheld. In April that year, then CIC M Sridhar Acharyulu directed Delhi University and Gujarat University to provide information concerning Modi’s degrees. Gujarat University subsequently approached the High Court, leading to the stay and eventual quashing of the CIC direction. The division bench has now dismissed Kejriwal’s appeal, leaving both the quashing of the CIC direction and the Rs 25,000 cost imposed by the single judge in place.

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