Gujarat HC Orders Separate Courts For Arvind Kejriwal And Sanjay Singh's Revision Pleas In PM Modi Degree Case

The Gujarat High Court has instructed the Principal Sessions Judge at the Ahmedabad City Civil Court to transfer the revision application filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal concerning the defamation case involving the academic degree of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a different court. Justice J Samir Dave directed the assigned judge to reach a decision within 10 days.

The court order stated, "If any application will be made by the Original Accused, the Original Complainant will give no objection for the adjournment of the criminal case," referring to the trial in the defamation case.

In response, petitions by Kejriwal and AAP leader Sanjay Singh for a stay on the trial during the revision application's pendency were disposed of.

Last week, the Supreme Court declined to grant an interim stay in the defamation case and requested the High Court to make a decision by August 29.

Senior Advocate Mihir Joshi, representing Kejriwal, highlighted during the hearing that the summoning order dated May 23 is under challenge and is yet to be examined by the revisional court. Joshi asserted that the revision application must be heard before the trial court proceeds with the case.

The High Court subsequently transferred the revision application to another court with a 10-day deadline for decision.

Gujarat University had filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal and Singh for alleged defamatory statements regarding the disclosure of PM Modi's degree certificate. In April, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jayeshbhai Chovatiya deemed their statements prima facie defamatory based on oral and digital evidence. The High Court ruled in March that the University need not disclose PM Modi's degree and fined Kejriwal ₹25,000.

Author: Anushka Taraniya

News Writer, MIT ADT University