PM degree row: Delhi HC asks DU to file objections to pleas to condone delay in filing appeals
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi University to file its objections to pleas seeking condonation of delay in filing appeals challenging an order relating to disclosure of details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bachelor's degree.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted three weeks to the varsity to file the reply on the applications seeking to condone the delay in filing appeals.
The bench was informed that there was a delay in filing the appeals challenging the single judge's August order.
"Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appears for the respondent (Delhi University). Objections to the applications seeking condonation of delay may be filed within three weeks. Response to the said objection, if any, be filed by the appellants in two weeks thereafter," the bench said.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on January 16, 2026.
Four appeals have been filed challenging a single judge's order which had set aside a Central Information Commission (CIC) decision directing disclosure of Prime Minister Modi's degree.
The division bench was hearing the appeals filed by Right to Information activist Neeraj, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and advocate Mohd Irshad.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioners contended that there are fundamental errors in the order passed by the single judge.
Solicitor General Mehta requested the court not to issue notice in the appeals at this stage as he was already appearing for the varsity and that he would file a reply to it.
Noting that there was a delay in filing the appeals, the court asked Mehta to file objections to the application seeking condonation of delay.
To this, the law officer said, “I was not aware there was a delay. I will go through the pleas. I have no hesitation in arguing the main matter also”.
On August 25, the single judge had set aside the CIC order, saying only because PM Modi was holding a public office, it did not render all his "personal information" to public disclosure.
It had ruled out any "implicit public interest" in the information sought, and said the RTI Act was enacted to promote transparency in government functioning and "not to provide fodder for sensationalism".
Following an RTI application by one Neeraj, the CIC on December 21, 2016, allowed inspection of records of all students who cleared the BA exam in 1978 -- the year Prime Minister Modi also passed it.
The single judge had passed the combined order in six petitions, including the one filed by the Delhi University, challenging the CIC order by which the varsity was directed to disclose the details related to Prime Minister Modi's bachelor degree.
The Delhi University's counsel had sought the CIC order to be set aside but said the varsity had no objection in showing its records to the court.
The single judge had opined the educational qualifications were not in the nature of any statutory requirement for holding any public office, or discharging official responsibilities.
The situation might have been different, had educational qualifications been a pre-requisite for eligibility to a specific public office, the judge had said, calling the CIC's approach "thoroughly misconceived".
The high court had also set aside the CIC order which directed the CBSE to provide copies of Class 10 and 12 records of former Union minister Smriti Irani.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
