"Making false accusations and then apologising is Arvind Kejriwal's habit": BJP after Gujarat HC ruling

New Delhi [India], March 31 : Following the Gujarat High Court verdict imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said the AAP leader was pursuing the case related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualifications in a "motivated" manner.
Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Today, Gujarat High Court has given a big judgement. This case was filed by Gujarat University. The University had claimed that PM Modi's degree is already on its website. But, despite that, the Chief Information Officer (CIC) on the order of Arvind Kejriwal asked the PM's qualifications to be disclosed."
"There was a matter of Arvind Kejriwal, where it was asked to make his i-card public. After this, he wrote a letter stating if you can disclose my i-card, and then also disclose the educational qualification of PM Modi. This was considered as an RTI request by the court," he added.
The BJP leader further accused Kejriwal of making it an issue in a "motivated" way, though the Prime Minister's degree is on the website.
"He (Kejriwal) consciously, deliberately, in a motivated manner made it an issue, that if you can disclose my i-card, then also disclose the educational qualification of Narendra Modi. Kejriwal has been raising the issue of PM Modi's educational qualification, now it can be understood, that he was doing this because hearing of his case was going on," he said.
The former Union Minister further pointed out that the court has also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Arvind Kejriwal.
"The Court has clearly stated that one can't file RTI just for curiosity. The Court also said that it is personal information, like professional, academic, and medical records, so it won't be right to disclose that. The court has also said that this application was brought in a motivated manner, and a fine of Rs 25,000 was also imposed on Kejriwal," he said.
Citing the court order, Ravi Shankar Prasad added, "Despite the degree in question being put on the website for all to see, and despite this fact being made especially clear, and despite the respondent never disputed the degree in question, either in the tendency of proceedings or even in the final hearing, the respondent persisted with the matter".
He further hit out at the AAP national convenor for repeatedly making false allegations.
"Why is Arvind Kejriwal doing this? Because his ex-Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former Minister Satyender Jain are in jail on corruption charges. Framing false charges and then apologising is normal for Kejriwal. Late Arun Jaitley also filed a defamation case on Kejriwal, after which he had to apologise," he said.
The BJP leader also said that it is perhaps the "first time" in history that a sitting Chief Minister has been imposed a fine of Rs 25,000.
"And, they have come for doing an alternative politics. The such bad language he used against our Prime Minister, calling him illiterate. Despite that our PM showed such patience and allowed the court to decide the matter. And, the court today decided and rejected the baseless application of Arvind Kejriwal," Prasad further said.
Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court set aside the Chief Information Commission (CIC) order and ruled that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) need not furnish the degree and post-graduate degree certificates of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The single-judge bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav set aside the order of the CIC directing the public information officer (PIO) of PMO, Gujarat University and Delhi University to furnish details of PM Modi's graduation and post-graduation degrees.
The bench was hearing an appeal filed by Gujarat University challenging the CIC order.
The High Court also imposed costs of Rs 25,000 on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who had sought details of the certificate of the Prime Minister's degree.
Reacting to the court order, Delhi's CM said that an "illiterate or less educated PM" is very dangerous for the country.
"Doesn't the country even have the right to know how much their PM has studied? He vehemently opposed showing off his degree in the court. Why? And those who demand to see their degree will be fined? What is this happening? Illiterate or less educated PM is very dangerous for the country," he said in the tweet.