The Gujarat High Court on Friday refused to quash the summons issued to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and jailed Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation case filed by Gujarat University over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic qualifications, reported Bar and Bench.

On January 16, the Supreme Court stayed criminal proceedings against the two leaders for four weeks while hearing Singh’s petition seeking the transfer of the case to a trial court outside Gujarat. The top court had also asked the Gujarat High Court to decide within four weeks on a plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party leaders to quash the summons issued to them by the trial court.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate had first issued the summons to the two leaders in April last year. The challenges to the summons were dismissed by the sessions court, following which the Aam Aadmi Party leaders moved the High Court in September.

Hearing the case on Friday, Justice Hasmukh D Suthar said: “No defence can be looked into at this stage.”

Suthar also directed Kejriwal and Singh to make their submissions before the trial court.

On March 31, the Gujarat High Court quashed a 2016 directive of the Central Information Commission asking the Gujarat University to provide details about the prime minister’s degrees to Kejriwal. The Central Information Commission is the top appellate body under the Right to Information Act.

Soon after the judgement, the Gujarat University filed a criminal defamation case against Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, alleging that they had made derogatory statements about Modi’s educational qualifications in the press.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has claimed that Modi was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Delhi University in 1978 and a Master of Arts degree from Gujarat University in 1983. However, the Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that the degrees are fabricated.