'Degree Of PM Modi Not Available On Official Website Of Gujarat University': Kejriwal Moves Gujarat HC Seeking Review Of The Quashing Order

The Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Gujarat High Court seeking a review of an earlier judgment by which the order of Central Information Commission (CIC) directing the Gujarat University to disclose details regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree to Delhi Chief Minister was quashed. 

Kejriwal moved the Review petition on the ground that the Gujarat High Court had quashed the CIC order in view of the statement made that Modi's Degree is available and displayed by the University on its website but on the contrary upon a scan of the said website of the Gujarat University, the said 'degree' is not available but a document referred to OR (Office Register) is displayed.

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav while quashing the CIC order and imposing a cost of Rs. 25,000/- had observed that the purpose of Kejriwal is ostensible which is politically vexatious and motivated instead of being based on sound public interest considerations. The Judge had also noted that the degree in question is put on the website of the university for all to see and Kejriwal never ever disputed the degree in question.

The Judge observed that "This Court fails to comprehend the justification or the legal foundation on the basis of which the Commission has arrived at the said finding. The said decision of the CIC, in the opinion of the court is contrary to the legal position and is therefore set aside. This court holds that in absence of any larger public interest, which is neither pleaded nor raised, the educational degrees of Sh Narendra Damodardas Modi are exempted from disclosure under the provisions of section 8(1)(e) and (j) of the RTI Act."

In the Review Petition, it is submitted that there are errors apparent on the face of the record in the judgment. "That is the statement of Original Petitioner that has led this Hon'ble Court to record and observe that "degree" is displayed on the official website of the Petitioner- which on fact is not correct and is an error apparent on the face of the record." reads the plea.

It is submitted that Kejriwal herein with the help of a person having special knowledge on the subject has got a complete scan of the part of the official website of the Gujarat University which is available to the general public and from the said scan it could be said that the "degree" is not uploaded as claimed by the University. The plea highlights the copy of the Office Record made available on the Gujarat University Website and a copy of the degree of the PM Modi show by BJP leader Amit Shah in a press conference.

It has further been submitted that "Upon doing a keyword search on the "search bar" of the official website- a different link opens where at the best an OR(Office Register) is found" and that "Even the said OR also appears to be cryptic and without any seal or signatures of the authority- thus, making the verification impossible."

Kejriwal has also added that the statement that "degree" is available on the official website of the Gujarat University was orally made only on the day of the final hearing on February 9, 2023, without there being any specific pleadings or documents produced. Therefore, the Applicant herein could not verify the statement by searching the official website of the Original Petitioner.

There was no opportunity for any such verification, what seems to be uploaded is an "OR" which cannot be the subject "degree" as claimed by the Gujarat University and hence the statement by University that "degree" is uploaded on its official website does not seem to be correct states the plea. Justice Biren Vaishnav in the Review Petition by Kejriwal issued Rule to the Respondents and made the matter returnable for June 30, 2023. 

Cause Title: Arvind Kejriwal v. Gujarat University

Click here to read/download the Order