Gujarat: Sessions Court rejects Kejriwal’s plea for stay on defamation trial

Gujarat Sessions Court on Tuesday turned down the pleas of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh for an interim stay on their trial in a criminal defamation case.

The case was filed by Gujarat University, following the AAP leaders alleged “sarcastic” and “derogatory” statements about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree.

The court’s rejection of the interim stay requests signifies that the trial will proceed as planned on the given date.

The court of sessions judge A.J Kanani dismissed the applications and directed the AAP leaders to appear in court on August 11 in response to the previously issued summons.

The defamation case against Kejriwal and Singh was initiated by Gujarat University Registrar Piyush Patel after their remarks made during a press conference and on Twitter about PM Modi’s degree.

The university claimed that these comments were “defamatory” and “damaging” the reputation of the institution.

Although the Sessions Court denied interim relief, the matter has been scheduled for the next hearing. Kejriwal and Singh’s legal counsel, Punit Juneja, stated that they intend to seek relief before the Gujarat High Court. The Metropolitan Court had summoned the AAP leaders based on prima facie evidence under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

This decision comes after the Gujarat High Court set aside an order of the Chief Information Commissioner related to PM Modi’s degree, leading to the filing of the defamation case against Kejriwal and Singh.