PM Degree Case: SC Stays Proceedings Against AAP Leaders Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh

The Supreme Court stayed the defamation proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh over their comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta granted a stay on the proceedings before the trial court for four weeks. The apex court asked the Gujarat High Court to dispose of a plea for interim relief filed by them during this time.

The order of the top court came on a plea filed by Singh seeking the transfer of the case to a trial court outside Gujarat. The Supreme Court bench denied entertaining the transfer petition. Gujarat University Registrar Piyush Patel filed a defamation case against Kejriwal and AAP leader Sanjay Singh over their alleged comments.

They made these comments after the Gujarat High Court set aside an order of the Chief Information Commissioner for providing information about the Prime Minister’s degrees to them under the RTI Act.

A Gujarat Metropolitan Court summoned Kejriwal and Singh in the defamation case over their sarcastic and derogatory statements on Modi’s degree. The Gujarat High Court refused to grant an interim stay on these proceedings in August last year. This was upheld by the apex court.