Gujarat High Court rejects to stay summons issued to Kejriwal and Singh in defamation case

Ahmedabad, Oct 12 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court on Thursday refused to suspend the summons issued by a magistrate's court to AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh in a criminal defamation action filed by Gujarat University over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree.

While hearing their common pleas for quashing the summons issued by the trial court earlier, Justice JC Doshi issued notices to the Gujarat University and state government on Thursday and scheduled a detailed hearing for November 3.

Because the magistrate's court in Ahmedabad, which is hearing the defamation case and issued summonses to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in April, would hear the case on October 14, senior advocate Rebecca John, representing the AAP leaders, urged Justice Doshi to grant interim relief before that hearing.

"The subject is coming up before the magistrate the day after tomorrow (Oct 14), therefore if you can pass an order that until this petition is heard (there will be a stay on trial),...If no interim protection is provided, the entire exercise (of today's hearing) will be futile," John, who appeared virtually, said.

However, Justice Doshi refused to offer any relief at this time, stating, "No, we can't right now." We will hear you as soon as possible, but no order will be granted today."

When Aum Kotwal, appearing in person for the AAP leaders, urged the court to consider their "adjournment application" against the trial court proceedings, which they intend to file on October 14, Justice Doshi refused to entertain such an application and directed the petitioners to seek relief from the trial court.

The HC judge also denied Kotwal's request for an order directing the trial court to examine the adjournment application if it was submitted in the future.

AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, as well as Rajya Sabha member Singh, have appealed the sessions court's September 14 ruling dismissing their revision pleas against the trial court's summons in the criminal defamation case brought by the Gujarat University before the High Court.

JM Brahmbhatt, a Sessions Court judge, had previously upheld the trial court's decision to call the two leaders, stating it was "neither illegal nor erroneous."

On April 15, the metropolitan court in Delhi summoned Kejriwal and Singh in a defamation action brought by the varsity over their "sarcastic" and "derogatory" allegations against PM's degree.

Gujarat University registrar Piyush Patel launched a defamation complaint against the two AAP leaders after the high court overturned the Chief Information Commissioner's order on Modi's degree.

According to the complainant, the two lawmakers made "defamatory" statements at press conferences and on their Twitter (now X) handles about the university over Modi's degree.

Their words were snarky in tone and made with the goal of undermining the university's reputation, according to the statement.

The two leaders had filed revision motions in the sessions court, appealing the metropolitan court summons. However, on August 7, the sessions court denied their request for an interim suspension of proceedings, prompting them to approach the HC.