Ahmedabad Mirror: Ahmedabad: Thursday, 17th
September 2026.
He had challenged order quashing CIC order to disclose Narendra Modi’s degree details
Solicitor General of India
Tushar Mehta, on behalf of Gujarat University, urged the Gujarat High Court to
impose costs on Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday. Kejriwal
has filed an appeal challenging the quashing of a Central Information Commission
(CIC) order directing disclosure of information concerning Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s degree. The matter is now listed for Kejriwal’s rejoinder
submissions on September 21.
Appearing for the University before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray, Mehta submitted that costs should be imposed 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.
“The appeal may be heard and decided on merits. And costs may be imposed. So that the very noble purpose and intent of the legislature under the RTI Act is not abused or misused and the authorities do not waste their time on unproductive work,” Mehta argued. “What is public interest here? Suppose for holding a particular post, a doctorate in physics is an essential eligibility criterion and someone raises an issue that he is holding a public post and not having a PhD and therefore I’m seeking information from the University, then that would be public Interest as his being on the post depends on that degree. RTI is not an enactment for curiosity seekers,” he argued.
The Bench is hearing Kejriwal’s appeal against the single judge’s verdict which quashed the CIC’s 2016 direction to Gujarat University to provide information concerning degrees in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He had challenged order quashing CIC order to disclose Narendra Modi’s degree details
Appearing for the University before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray, Mehta submitted that costs should be imposed 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.
“The appeal may be heard and decided on merits. And costs may be imposed. So that the very noble purpose and intent of the legislature under the RTI Act is not abused or misused and the authorities do not waste their time on unproductive work,” Mehta argued. “What is public interest here? Suppose for holding a particular post, a doctorate in physics is an essential eligibility criterion and someone raises an issue that he is holding a public post and not having a PhD and therefore I’m seeking information from the University, then that would be public Interest as his being on the post depends on that degree. RTI is not an enactment for curiosity seekers,” he argued.
The Bench is hearing Kejriwal’s appeal against the single judge’s verdict which quashed the CIC’s 2016 direction to Gujarat University to provide information concerning degrees in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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