A hearing is set to take place regarding appeals that challenge a High Court single-judge's decision to overturn a Central Information Commission (CIC) order concerning the disclosure of the Prime Minister's academic degree details. The Division Bench, composed of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, will address these appeals, which were brought forth by prominent figures including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, RTI activist Neeraj Sharma, and advocate Mohd Irshad. The controversy initially emerged following comments made by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2016, where he pressed Prime Minister Modi to make his educational credentials public. Modi declared in his election affidavit that he graduated from Delhi University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1978. Before this, Sharma had submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request for details about all BA degrees conferred by the university in that year, which the university declined to provide, citing privacy concerns and a lack of public interest. Following this denial, Sharma escalated the matter to the CIC, which ruled in December 2016 that Delhi University must disclose the list of students who completed the Bachelor of Arts program in 1978. However, the university contested this ruling at the High Court, leading to a stay on the CIC's order, asserting that such disclosures could have serious implications for all universities in India that manage sensitive student data. This legal battle continues to draw attention as it presents significant questions about transparency, public interest, and privacy under the Right to Information Act.
Hearing Scheduled for Appeals Against Degree Disclosure Ruling
Bar and Bench •

Image source: Bar and Bench website
A High Court Division Bench is set to hear appeals challenging a ruling that quashed the CIC's directive for disclosing the Prime Minister's degree details. The case arose after AAP leader Sanjay Singh and others demanded more transparency about PM Modi's educational credentials, which he claims to have obtained in 1978. The university's refusal to disclose this information based on privacy concerns has sparked a larger debate about the balance between personal privacy and public interest under the Right to Information Act.