Court summons Arvind Kejriwal, AAP MP Sanjay Singh after Gujarat University files case

AHMEDABAD: A metropolitan court here on Saturday summoned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh after the Gujarat University (GU) filed a criminal defamation case against them for making sarcastic and damaging statements against the university over the authenticity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree.
GU registrar Piyush Patel filed the complaint against Kejriwal and Singh on April 12, taking exception to press conferences conducted and posting it on Twitter handles by Kejriwal on April 1 and by Singh on April 2 respectively. It demanded action against them under section 500 of IPC. This was after the Gujarat high court upheld GU's stand on not parting with Modi's MA degree under RTI provisions and imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 on Delhi CM.
GU's counsel Amit Nair cited statements made by Kejriwal on why the university is not parting with Modi's degree and hiding it and questioning the authenticity of the document. "Degree is not given because it is possible that the degree is fake," Kejriwal was quoted as saying. Similarly, the lawyer took objection to Singh's statement, "They are now busy proving the prime minister's fake degree as genuine".
The lawyer examined four witnesses - Ashish Ratibhai, Rushikesh Ghanshyambhai, Virendra Chinubhai and Dipak Hasmukhbhai - during the court inquiry to substantiate GU's claim that the defamatory statements against the university were uttered in a sarcastic manner and are damaging to the university's prestige.
The lawyer argued that the statements by both the politicians would make any prudent man to believe that GU issues fake and bogus degrees and is involved in fraudulent activity. This is damaging for the reputation of the university. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Jayeshbhai Chovadiya accepted GU's contention that the Delhi CM and Singh's statements were made in their personal capacity and not 'affairs of the state'. It was not part of their official or assigned duty and hence no requirement to obtain consent from a competent authority and a complaint for criminal defamation lies before a court of magistrate.
Accepting the complaint and ordering its registration as a criminal case, the court further said that prima facie it appears that the constitutionally established university has been targeted by the statements made by the opponents. It prima facie appears that the statements were made in a sarcastic manner and intended to target the university. It is possible that because of their statements, GU's prestige, image and name might be tarnished.
The court further said that if political functionaries, instead of performing their duty, make statements because of personal animosity and to cause damage to others, it is in breach of trust that people pose in them and hence the statements made by Kejriwal and Singh are personal in nature.
The court noted that the HC's order made it clear that GU had published Modi's degree on its website, but the duo still conducted press conferences and made sarcastic remarks against the university.
The court summoned Kejriwal and Singh on May 23 to give them an opportunity to defend themselves, but it ordered to delete 'chief minister' from Kejriwal's name in the case's cause title "because the statements were made in personal capacity".