PM Modi degree row: Delhi HC gives DU 2 more weeks to file objections on delay plea
Court to hear appeals challenging single judge order that set aside CIC directive as DU seeks time to file objections; ruling had found no public interest in disclosure
The Delhi High Court on Monday (April 27) granted Delhi University (DU) an additional two weeks to file its objections regarding the delay in submitting appeals against an order that denied disclosure of details related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bachelor’s degree.
Counsel for the appellants urged the court to condone the delay, noting that the university had already been given an extra three weeks to file its objections on the previous hearing date.
Also read | PM Modi's degree: Delhi High Court sets aside order
However, DU’s counsel informed the court that the objections would be filed within two weeks and requested that the matter be decided after the response is submitted.
Degree row back in court
"Learned counsel for respondent states that objection to application seeking condonation of delay will be filed within two weeks. Response thereof will be filed by the appellants by the next date of listing," a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said. The matter was listed for next hearing on August 20.
On February 10, the court had granted three weeks’ time to DU to file the objection to the delay. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the university, had said "there was nothing in the matter" and it was "only to sensationalise".
A senior counsel appearing for an appellant had said the objections to the delay had not been filed even after two and a half months of the court permitting DU to do so.
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 appellants before the division bench are RTI activist Neeraj, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and advocate Mohd Irshad.
No grounds for disclosure
On August 25, 2025, 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 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 by which the varsity was directed to disclose the details related to Modi's bachelor degree.
CIC approach ‘misconceived’
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.
Also read | PM degree row: RTI's purpose not to satisfy curiosity, DU tells Delhi HC
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 that directed the CBSE to provide copies of Class 10 and 12 records of former Union minister Smriti Irani.
(With agency inputs)