A court in Assam has issued an arrest warrant against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after he failed to appear before it in a defamation case over his tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s education qualifications.
The bailable warrant is the latest in a series of troubles that the Aam Aadmi Party leader finds himself over his utterances. He is being tried for defamation in a Delhi court in a case filed by finance minister Arun Jaitley.
On Monday, judicial magistrate Naba Kumar Deka Baruah in Diphu in Karbi Anglong district issued the warrant against the AAP chief after a no-show on April 7.
“Modiji 12 pass hain. Uske baad ki degree farzi hai (Narendra Modi is only 12th pass and all other succeeding degrees are fake)”, Kejriwal had tweeted on December 15.
A few days later, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council member Surjo Rongphar, who is also with the BJP, filed a case against Kejriwal, accusing him of making defamatory remarks about Modi.
Kejriwal’s lawyer Gurpreet Singh Uppal said the chief minister was busy with the April 23 Delhi civic elections and it was not possible for him to be present in person in the court.
{{/usCountry}}Kejriwal’s lawyer Gurpreet Singh Uppal said the chief minister was busy with the April 23 Delhi civic elections and it was not possible for him to be present in person in the court.
{{/usCountry}}“On perusal of records, it reveals that the accused (Kejriwal) has not appeared before the court on the earlier occasion on January 30, too, availing adjournment for two months. Considering this, the petition of Gurpreet Singh Uppal is rejected,” the court said.
The Delhi chief minister has been demanding that Modi’s college and university certificates be made public, alleging that the Prime Minister had furnished wrong information about his education.
The prime minister’s office and government have denied the charge. The case will now be heard on May 8.
The Congress, however, used the warrant to ask the Prime Minister why he was so “secretive” about his education.
“Don’t People of India have a right to know educational qualification of their Prime Minister? What is so secret about it,” party leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted on Tuesday.
“Why is Modi so secretive of his educational qualification ? Obviously he has lied to the People about his education.”
The Congress leader then went on to say that the PM had lied so many times that one more lie won’t make a difference.
(With agency inputs)