Ahmedabad, September 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday dismissed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against an order quashing a Central Information Commission (CIC) directive on disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree, while upholding the Rs 25,000 cost imposed on him.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray found no grounds to interfere with the March 31, 2023, order passed by a single judge. The bench dismissed the appeal without imposing any additional costs.
“In the totality of facts and circumstances of the present case, no error on any of the submissions of the appellant hearing can be found in the judgment impugned. The appeal stands dismissed accordingly with no further order as to cost,” the court observed.
In March 2023, the single judge had allowed Gujarat University’s challenge to a 2016 CIC direction requiring it to provide information concerning Modi’s educational qualifications. The court quashed the CIC order and imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal, observing that the Right to Information (RTI) Act had been approached casually and misused.
During the appeal proceedings, Kejriwal’s counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, challenged the basis for imposing the cost. Singhvi argued that Kejriwal had not “persisted” in seeking Modi’s degree, contrary to the single judge’s observation.
He also contended that the CIC had initiated the proceedings suo motu and made Kejriwal a respondent based on a letter rather than a formal RTI application.
Another issue raised during the proceedings was Gujarat University’s submission that Modi’s degree was already available online. Singhvi referred to arguments made in a review petition before the single judge, in which Kejriwal’s lawyers had claimed that the degree had not actually been uploaded on the university’s website. The review plea was rejected.
Singhvi argued that if the degree was already publicly available, there would be no continuing cause of action under the RTI Act.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat University, opposed the appeal. He argued that Kejriwal had pursued the matter persistently and had held press conferences that, according to the university, defamed the institution.
Mehta submitted that imposing costs was 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 legislation’s purpose.
The dispute dates back to 2016, when Kejriwal wrote to the CIC seeking disclosure of Modi’s degree, stating that he had no objection to government records concerning him being made public. He had questioned why information about the Prime Minister’s educational qualifications was being “hidden”.
In April 2016, then CIC M. Sridhar Acharyulu directed Delhi University and Gujarat University to provide information about Modi’s degrees. Gujarat University subsequently challenged the directive before the High Court, which stayed its implementation.
The university had opposed the CIC proceedings, arguing that an individual’s “irresponsible childish curiosity” could not be treated as public interest under the RTI Act.
In 2016, then vice-chancellor M.N. Patel had said that Modi completed an MA in Political Science in 1983. The university also put the degree on its website while challenging the CIC’s order before the High Court.
The single judge later quashed the CIC directive, criticised the commission for what was described as “judicial activism” and imposed the Rs 25,000 cost on Kejriwal. He subsequently challenged that decision before the division bench.
The High Court had reserved its verdict after completing hearings on September 25. With Tuesday’s ruling, the division bench has upheld both the quashing of the CIC directive and the Rs 25,000 cost imposed on Kejriwal.
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