Modi degree row: DU opposes RTI activists’ plea seeking details of 1978 BA graduates
ASG Tushar Mehta, who represented the varsity, accused activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey and Amrita Johri of using the case to gain ‘cheap publicity’.
Delhi University on Tuesday opposed a plea three Right to Information activists have filed in the Delhi High Court seeking details of students who cleared the varsity’s Bachelor of Arts examination in 1978, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to have finished his degree.
In 2016, the Central Information Commission directed the university to allow inspection of its records from 1978. Subsequently, the institution filed a plea asking the High Court to set aside the commission’s order.
Three RTI activists – Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey and Amrita Johri – filed an intervention application asking the court to reject the university’s plea. In February, the varsity told the court that it would not disclose the exam records as it had a fiduciary responsibility towards students.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the university, argued on Tuesday that the intervention application was intended for “gaining cheap publicity”, The Times of India reported. “With all seriousness I am opposing it,” Mehta argued. “Can this be a public platform? Can this be a platform for gaining cheap publicity?”
Justice Rajiv Shakdher told the RTI activists that their counsel could assist as an amicus curiae in the matter. The activists agreed. However, Mehta argued that they were strangers to the matter and urged the court to not hear them.
The court refused to dismiss the intervention application without examination, and posted it for further hearing on August 23, The Wire reported.