Modi Degree Row: No Relief For Sanjay Singh From Supreme Court In Defamation Case

The High Court had declined to annul summonses issued against him in a defamation case related to alleged comments on PM Modi's educational qualifications.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filled by AAP leader Sanjay Singh contesting a decision from the Gujarat High Court. The High Court had declined to annul summonses issued against him in a defamation case related to alleged comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualifications. Considering the decision Sanjay Singh will have to appear before the Ahmedabad Magistrate Court.

On April 15, 2023, Kejriwal and Singh received summonses to appear before a Magistrate Court in Ahmedabad. They appealed against this summons in the Sessions Court and requested a stay of the trial until their revision plea was resolved. However, their request for a stay was denied.

In September 2023, the Sessions Court dismissed Kejriwal and Singh's revision applications. Following this decision, they approached the Gujarat High Court to challenge both the summonses and the Sessions Court's affirmation of the summonses.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said that the bench is not inclined to entertain the present petition. The bench stated that the high court had previously noted in its ruling that all arguments accessible to the involved parties were preserved, and the judge presiding over the trial would not be swayed by any remarks made in the ruling. 

Gujarat University registrar Piyush Patel initiated a defamation lawsuit against Singh and Delhi CM Kejriwal following their purported remarks about the university during a press conference. This occurred after the Gujarat high court overturned a Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) directive instructing the university to disclose information regarding PM Modi's educational qualifications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. 

In August 2023, the Supreme Court declined to hear Delhi CM Kejriwal's plea against the high court's decision to dismiss his appeal seeking a halt to the criminal defamation proceedings instigated by Gujarat University. 

Following a summon issued by a metropolitan court in Gujarat against Kejriwal and Singh concerning their alleged defamatory remarks, the duo lodged a revision application in the sessions court to challenge the summons. Despite their petition for a temporary suspension of the trial being denied by the sessions court, they proceeded to appeal to the high court.