The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the summons issued by a trial court to Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh in a defamation case related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic qualifications, Bar and Bench reported.

The case was filed by Gujarat University in April 2023.

The top court on Friday pointed out that the Gujarat High Court has already said that all arguments made by the involved parties are to be kept open and that the trial court should not be influenced by any observations made in its February order, reported PTI.

On February 16, the High Court had dismissed petitions by Singh and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal demanding that the summonses against them be quashed.

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 these degrees are fabricated.

On March 31 last year, the Gujarat High Court quashed a 2016 directive of the Central Information Commission asking 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 Singh, alleging that they had made derogatory statements about Modi’s educational qualifications in the press.