PM MODI DEGREE DEFAMATION CASE

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh are to appear in court before it on July 26 in connection with a criminal defamation case over their “sarcastic” and “derogatory” statements with regard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree.

The case against the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders was filed on the basis of a complaint lodged by Gujarat University (GU).

Essentially, Mr. Kejriwal said,’ “An uneducated or less educated PM is dangerous for India,

The Chief Minister alleged that there can be two reasons why the Prime Minister is not showing his degree. “It is either because of his ego he doesn’t feel the need to show it to anyone but this kind of behavior is not valid in a democracy. The other question that arises is that the degree might be fake.”

"अगर डिग्री है और वो सही है तो डिग्री दी क्यों नहीं जा रही है...गुजरात और दिल्ली यूनिवर्सिटी डिग्री क्यों नहीं दे रही हैं?
 डिग्री इसलिए नहीं दे रहे हैडिग्री हो सकता है फर्जी हो, डिग्री नकली हो. 
अगर प्रधानमंत्री जी दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय से पढे, गुजरात यूनिवर्सिटी से पढे, तो गुजरात यूनिवर्सिटी को सेलीब्रेट करना चाहिए 
कि हमारा लड़का जो है देश का प्रधानमंत्री बन गया...वो उनकी डिग्री को छुपने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं...
(यूनिवर्सिटी) प्रधानमंत्री की फर्जी डिग्री को सही साबित करने में जुट गई

The defamation case was filed by GU through its registrar Piyush Patel on April 12. The court ordered an inquiry into the complaint under section 202 of the Code of criminal procedure (CrPC)

They made “defamatory” statements in press conferences and on Twitter targeting the university over PM Modi’s degree, the complainant said, adding that their comments against the Gujarat University were defamatory and intended to hurt the reputation of the varsity.

GUJARAT COURT ORDER ON PM DEGREE

A metropolitan court here had earlier directed the two leaders to appear before it on Thursday (July 13). However, their lawyer filed an exemption application saying Kejriwal and Singh could not appear due to heavy rains in Delhi.

Gujarat University’s lawyer Amit Nair did not oppose the plea but urged the court to direct the AAP leaders to remain present on the next date as the trial is being delayed.

After taking into consideration the exemption plea for their absence, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S J Panchal directed Kejriwal and Singh to remain present on July 26.

During the hearing, the AAP leaders’ lawyer submitted another plea under section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), urging the court to adjourn the hearing in view of a related matter being heard in the Gujarat High Court.

However, Nair opposed the plea saying there was no connection between this case and the matter which is pending before the high court. Subsequently, the AAP leaders did not press for the plea and withdrew it.

During the previous hearings, the court had summoned the two AAP leaders after observing that prima facie there appeared to be a case against them under section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).