SC dismisses Sanjay Singh's plea against summons in PM Modi's academic degree defamation case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh against a decision of the Gujarat High Court refusing to interfere with the summons issued by a metropolitan court in a criminal defamation case concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's academic degree.

Noting that the Gujarat High Court has already observed that all contentions available to the parties are kept open and the trial court would not be influenced by any of its observations, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said that the apex court is not inclined to entertain the special leave petition filed by Singh.

Earlier in February this year, Justice Hasmukh D Suthar of the Gujarat High Court found no ground to nullify the summons in a 61-page detailed order.

The defamation case emanates from derogatory statements allegedly made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Singh concerning Prime Minister Modi's academic degree. A metropolitan court in Ahmedabad had summoned both the politicians following a criminal defamation complaint from Gujarat University.