Arrest Warrant Against Delhi CM Kejriwal for Failing to Appear Before Court for Defamation Charges Against PM Narendra Modi

Assam, April 12, 2017: "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.

This has consequenced Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council member Surjo Rongphar, who is also with the BJP, to file a case against Kejriwal, a few days later, accusing him of making defamatory remarks about Prime Minister Modi, as reported by PTI.

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The court in Assam has issued an arrest warrant against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after he failed to appear before it in the defamation case over this tweet on Modi's education qualifications.

The bailable warrant is the latest in the series of troubles that the Aam Aadmi Party leader finds himself over his utterances. He is also being tried for defamation in a Delhi court in a case filed by finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Kejriwal's lawyer Gurpreet Singh Uppal had 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.

The court had said, "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 Kejriwal 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, has used the warrant as an opportunity 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 had tweeted on Tuesday.

– Prepared by Upama Bhattacharya. Twitter @Upama_myself