New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed Delhi University (DU) to file its response to petitions seeking condonation of delay in filing appeals against an order concerning the disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bachelor’s degree details.
A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted DU three weeks to submit its objections. “Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appears for the respondent (Delhi University). Objections to the applications seeking condonation of delay may be filed within three weeks. Responses to those objections, if any, may be filed by the appellants within two weeks thereafter,” the bench said. The matter will be heard next on January 16, 2026.
The court was hearing four appeals filed by RTI activist Neeraj, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, and advocate Mohd Irshad, challenging a single judge’s August 25 order that had set aside a Central Information Commission (CIC) directive for disclosure of the Prime Minister’s degree.
The single judge had ruled that simply because the Prime Minister holds public office does not mean all his personal information is open to public scrutiny. The court observed that the RTI Act aims to promote transparency in governance, “not to provide fodder for sensationalism,” and found no “implicit public interest” in the information sought.
The CIC, in its December 21, 2016 order, had allowed inspection of records of all students who passed the BA exam in 1978—the year PM Modi graduated. That order was challenged by the Delhi University, among others.
While DU had requested the CIC order be quashed, it stated it had no objection to showing the records to the court. The single judge, however, observed that educational qualifications are not a statutory requirement for holding public office and that the CIC’s directive was “thoroughly misconceived.”
The same order had also set aside the CIC’s direction to the CBSE to provide copies of Class 10 and 12 records of former Union minister Smriti Irani.
