Written by Sohini GhoshNew Delhi | Updated: November 12, 2025 12:25 PM IST 3 min readThe Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from Delhi University regarding the delay in filing appeals by several litigants against the court’s August order, which had set aside a 2016 Central Information Commission (CIC) directive requiring the university to disclose details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bachelor’s degree in response to an RTI application.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the varsity, resisted issuance of notice. He said he is already appearing before the court and has no hesitation in arguing the main appeal, challenging the single judge’s order.A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted three weeks’ time to DU to file their objection to the application seeking condonation of delay in filing appeals.In a plea moved before the High Court in 2017, DU had challenged the CIC order which had directed inspection of records of students who passed BA Programme from the varsity in 1978 — the year when Modi graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree.On August 25, a single judge of the Delhi HC had set aside the CIC order on the ground that there lies a “special relationship of trust and confidence” between a student and a university, which is fiduciary in nature, and held that information pertaining to an individual’s educational qualifications — including degrees and marks — falls within the ambit of “personal information” under provisions of the RTI Act.The court underlined that “disclosure of academic details sans any overriding public interest, would amount to an intrusion into the personal sphere”, which is otherwise protected under right to privacy.Four appeals had been filed against the single judge’s order — two by lawyer Mohd Irsad, one by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and another by RTI applicant Neeraj Kumar — in the Delhi HC.Story continues below this adThe court has now kept the matter for further consideration on January 16, 2026.In 2023, the Gujarat HC had similarly quashed and set aside an order of the CIC that had directed the varsity to “search for information” regarding PM Modi’s degrees at Gujarat University in 1983.AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who was the Delhi CM at the time, had sought a review of the Gujarat HC order. Following its dismissal, Kejriwal had then moved an appeal, which continues to be pending till date, scheduled for hearing on January 19, 2026.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd