PM Modi degree case: Gujarat High Court rejects Kejriwal appeal, upholds ₹25,000 cost on him

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) rejected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal's appeal against an order that set aside a directive asking Gujarat University to disclose Prime Minister Narendra Modi's academic degree.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray upheld the single judge’s order, finding no grounds to interfere with the decision quashing the Central Information Commission's (CIC) 2016 directive and imposing a cost of ₹25,000 on Kejriwal.

"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 High Court said in its order.

While quashing the CIC order, the single-judge Bench of the High Court had on March 31, 2023, also imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Mr. Kejriwal and reprimanded him for misusing the RTI provisions, saying his approach was casual.

During the hearings of his appeal, Mr. Kejriwal's counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi had challenged the basis for imposing costs, arguing that his client had not "persisted" seeking Mr. Modi's degree, as against the Single Bench observation to this effect.

He had contended that the CIC had initiated proceedings suo motu and named him as a respondent based on a letter and not a formal application.

Furthermore, Gujarat University had submitted before the Single Bench that the degree was already available online; however, in his review petition before the Single Bench, Mr. Kejriwal's lawyers had pointed out that it was never made online — a plea that was rejected.

If the degree is indeed available online — presumably made so by Gujarat University in view of its public importance — then it should fall within the ambit of the RTI Act, and the cause of action would cease to exist, Kejriwal's lawyer argued.

Representing the University, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had argued that Mr. Kejriwal fought the case relentlessly and even held press conferences to defame the institution.

He had submitted that the high court should impose costs on Mr. Kejriwal for filing his appeal to ensure that the RTI Act is not misused and government officials are not made to spend productive working hours dealing with requests that do not serve the Act's purpose.

In 2016, Mr. Kejriwal had written to the CIC demanding that the Prime Minister's degree should be made public. In April 2016, the then CIC M. Sridhar Acharyulu had directed the Delhi University and the GU to provide information to Mr. Kejriwal on the degrees that Mr. Modi received.

Three months later, the High Court stayed the CIC order after the University approached it against that order.

The CIC order came a day after Mr. Kejriwal wrote to it, saying he has no objection to government records about him being made public and wondered why the commission wanted to "hide" information on Mr. Modi's educational qualifications.

Based on the letter, the CIC directed the University to give records of Mr. Modi's educational qualifications to Mr. Kejriwal.

The University vehemently objected to the CIC order, saying that someone's "irresponsible childish curiosity" cannot become public interest under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

In May 2016, the then GU Vice-Chancellor, M.N. Patel, had announced that Mr. Modi completed his MA in Political Science in 1983 with 62.3% as an external student.

While posting his degree on its website, the GU also challenged the CIC's order in the High Court, with the Single Bench quashing the CIC directive and pulling it up for venturing into "judicial activism", while imposing a cost of ₹25,000 on Mr. Kejriwal.

Mr. Kejriwal then challenged before the Division Bench of the High Court the single judge order.