Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has reserved its verdict on the petition filed by the Gujarat University challenging the order of the Chief Information Commission (CIC) regarding educational qualifications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Gujarat University said that these details cannot be provided as the CIC had no jurisdiction and such personal matters cannot be put in public domain in the name of the RTI Act.
The case pertains to the order issued by the CIC while responding to a plea made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for maintaining transparency in providing details of Modi's master's degree too. The issue came up when Kejriwal's application for photo voter ID card came up for the consideration of the CIC. At that time, the CIC considered the observation made by Arvind Kejriwal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and ordered the Gujarat University to provide details and copies of PM Modi's educational qualifications to the AAP national convener.
The hearing of this entire matter took place in the Gujarat High Court on Thursday. In 2016, the Gujarat University had challenged the order of the CIC in the Gujarat High Court. At that time, notices were issued to the Gujarat High Court Arvind Kejriwal and the then Chief Information Commissioner M. Sridhar Acharyulu.
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During the CIC considering his application for the photo voter ID card, Arvind Kejriwal raised the issue of the educational qualification of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When the CIC gave the order, the Gujarat University argued that any student's degree is treated as personal information and it cannot be given under the Right to Information Act. Such information cannot be disclosed. Unless the information is public or relates to a public matter, it cannot be shared with others.
On the other hand, Arvind Kejriwal's lawyer Om Kotwal said that as per the CIC order, the Gujarat University should provide details of the Prime Minister's educational qualification. Gujarat University has nothing to do with this issue and it being a public authority cannot take such a defence. Arvind Kejriwal had asked for Narendra Modi's graduation and master's degrees.
During the hearings, the Gujarat University maintained that the information relating to degrees was given online to the respective students and the same cannot be disclosed to others as it was a matter of privacy. The university maintained that the CIC had no jurisdiction and its order is clearly erroneous and needs to be set aside. After hearing all the parties, the Gujarat High Court has reserved its verdict in this entire matter.
