Delhi High Court to Hear Pleas on PM Modi’s Educational Record Disclosure
Four separate appeals have been filed before the Delhi High Court demanding the disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualification records.
These appeals challenge the August 25, 2025 order of a single-judge Bench that had quashed the Central Information Commission (CIC) directive of December 2016, which required the disclosure of PM Modi’s degree details.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela will hear the appeals filed by AAP leader Sanjay Singh, RTI activist Neeraj Sharma, and advocate Mohd Irshad.
In August, Justice Sachin Datta had ruled that there was no public interest in making such academic details public. The Court held that mark sheets, results, and degree certificates, even of public officials, are personal information and thus exempt under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The controversy dates back to 2016 when former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged PM Modi to make his educational qualifications public. In his election affidavit, PM Modi had declared that he completed a BA in Political Science from Delhi University (DU) in 1978.
Earlier, RTI activist Neeraj Sharma had sought records of all BA degrees issued by DU in 1978. The University declined, stating the information was private and unrelated to public interest.
In December 2016, the CIC directed DU to release the register containing the list of students who passed the BA programme that year. DU challenged this order in January 2017, and the High Court stayed the disclosure after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that such an order could set a precedent affecting the privacy of millions of students nationwide.
In August 2025, the High Court finally set aside the CIC’s order, prompting the current set of appeals for reconsideration.
