Ahmedabad: The controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications has been revived with the Gujarat University submitting in the Gujarat High Court on Thursday that furnishing copies of his degree certificates as sought by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal under the Right to Information Act would affect the PM’s privacy.
The high court was hearing a petition challenging directions by the Central Information Commission (CIC) to the Gujarat University to provide copies of the Prime Minister’s degree certificates to Kejriwal under the RTI Act. The CIC had directed the public information officer (PIO) of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the public information officers of the Gujarat University and Delhi University to furnish copies of Modi’s graduation and post-graduation degrees.
Appearing for the University, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta contended that the university could not be compelled to disclose this information though otherwise there would be nothing to hide in it. Mehta argued that the Prime Minister’s privacy could be affected by this.
Mehta submitted, "In a democracy, there won't be a difference if a person holding the office is a doctorate or an illiterate. Also, there is no public interest involved in this issue. Even his privacy is affected."
According to public information provided by Modi in his election affidavits, he completed his graduation from Gujarat University in 1978 and post-graduation from Delhi University in 1983.
SG Mehta argued that the information sought has nothing to do with the PM's role as a public figure.
Tushar Mehta asserted in the court that, "We cannot be asked to furnish the information to satisfy someone's childish and irresponsible curiosity. Also, it should be noted that the information sought has nothing to do with his (Narendra Modi's) role as a public figure."
The Solicitor-General went on, "For instance, if one seeks information under RTI as to what the height, bank balance etc of the President of India is, would this be logical? Does it have any public interest." He argued that under RTI Act, information should have relevance to the public activity and interest.
"For instance, they cannot ask what breakfast I had but yes what amount was spent for the breakfast," Mehta asserted.
Senior Advocate Percy Kavina, who appeared for Arvind Kejriwal, rebuffed the Solicitor-General for calling this a “childish and irresponsible curiosity.”
He pointed to Modi’s election nomination form that mentions his education qualifications and stated that, “We are only asking for a degree certificate and not his marksheets." Countering the claim by the Solicitor-General that the degree was available on the internet, Kavina said it was not found on the internet and so this RTI application.
He added that, "An interview of him (Modi) with one Rajiv Shukla is available on the net and not the degree. Thus, we sought a copy of the degree."
After hearing both the parties, Justice Biren Vaishnav reserved his verdict in the petition.
Citing exceptions granted under the RTI Act for not complying with the seven-year-old order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the university, argued that merely because someone is holding a public office, one can not seek his private information which is not connected with his public activity.
