A local court in Ahmedabad on Tuesday issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh to appear before it on June 7 in a criminal defamation case filed by the Gujarat University.
The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S.J. Panchal summoned Mr. Kejriwal and Rajya Sabha member Mr. Singh after it was informed that the summons issued earlier directing the duo to appear on May 23 had not reached them.
The court acted on a criminal defamation complaint filed by the Gujarat University Registrar contending that the “sarcastic” and “derogatory” statements against the varsity over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree defamed the university and its standing.
On Tuesday, Gujarat University’s lawyer Amit Nair apprised the new judge about the case and said that his predecessor issued the summons on April 15. AAP’s legal head for Gujarat, Pranav Thakkar, told mediapersons that Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Singh had not yet received the summons.
The judge asked the staff to check and then directed the issuing of fresh summons to both leaders.
In the complaint, the university had stated that the AAP leaders made “defamatory” statements in press conferences and on their social media handles targeting the university over the PM’s degree from the university.
The complaint claimed that their comments hurt the prestige and standing of the institution.
The comments quoted by the complainant and attributed to Mr. Kejriwal are: “If there is a degree and it is genuine, then why is it not being given?”; “They are not giving degree because it might be fake” and “If the Prime Minister studied at Delhi University and Gujarat University, then Gujarat University should celebrate that its student became the country’s PM”.
