By Dr. Gyan Pathak
It was only last week, Union Minister of Home said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself put PM under the proposed Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill for the sake of equality before law that seeks automatic removal of PM, CM, and Ministers if detained for 30 days. The equality was boasted since he knew that nobody is able to arrest Prime Minister. However, when there is a real threat, there is no equality before law. The issue of the PM Narendra Modi’s degree is the latest example. No one has right to know the truth about his academic qualification, and even the University does not have to disclose it, according to the latest Delhi High Court decision which has said that degree is PM Narendra Modi’s ‘personal information’.
Delhi High Court’s decision on the issue of the degree of PM Narendra Modi came on August 25, 2025. Hearing on the issue was completed on February 27, and judgement war reserved. Many analysts, however, disagree with the Delhi High Court’s vies and say if it is correct position then everyone else’s degree must be their personal information, and no one should ask or compel anyone for their degrees, for anything right from applying for jobs to submitting affidavits to contest elections. Why the Election Commission of India asks for degrees?
The question is why many people have been continuously asking for the degree of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as against many others who want to conceal the truth behind his degree? The answer is not very difficult, since those who have been demanding to know the truth behind Narendra Modi’s degree had publicly said that they suspect that his degree is fake, and he had submitted wrong declaration in the Affidavits while contesting elections, which if proved, his election to the post could become null and void.
The Election Commission of India has no interest in verifying the facts of the affidavits, and the mystery around the issue of his degree has been deepened further by the educational institutions not ready to reveal the truth, and the courts giving such orders that protect the mystery, preventing the country to know the truth about the degree of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. How can the country know that the affidavits submitted by him while contesting elections are true, if no one is allowed to know the truth about his degree?
The BJP and the Modi fan club on the other hand have always been trying to conceal the truth behind the issue of PM Narendra Modi’s degree, though he is in public life, and the citizen has a right to know about their prime minister – his income, his degree, his marital status, and many other information that are not his ‘private life’. Privacy is any citizens right, and he should not be compelled, but what about educational qualification? What is there in his degree that needs concealment?
The Delhi High Court on Monday, August 25, 2025 has set aside a 2016 order by the Central Information Commission (CIC) that had directed Delhi University to disclose details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree in response to an RTI application. Justice Sachin Datta has said that there lies a “special relationship of trust and confidence” between a student and a university which is fiduciary in nature, and “disclosure of academic details sans any overriding public interest, would amount to an intrusion into the personal sphere”. One fails to understand how PM Narendra Modi’s degree, and truth about it, is not in public interest especially when there is an affidavit before the election commission and there are allegations that the affidavits contain false information about his degree?
Justice Datta’s arguments that the framework of the university’s statutes “does not permit the disclosure of marks/grades to any third party”, and “there is a legitimate expectation on the part of the students that confidentiality shall be maintained” with regard to their information, are also not acceptable, since Universities and institutions across the world publish the results of examinations publicly. Should the results be treated as “confidential” matter, and private information? Or Does this standard apply only for PM Narendra Modi and his degree, and truth about which no one has right to know? Is it right to privacy of the student that no one should know their examination result?
CIC had ordered an inspection of records of students who passed BA Programme from the varsity in 1978. It should be noted that according to PM Modi’s affidavits, he had graduated from the Delhi University with bachelor’s degree.
The Bench of the Delhi High Court has said further 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.
It should be noted that after the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) in 2016, Delhi University had refused to give information. In 2017, Delhi University had challenged the CIC order.
CIC had also directed the Gujarat University to “search for information” regarding PM Narendra Modi’s degree. PM Narendra Modi’s affidavit submitted before the ECI says that he had an MA degree from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad which he had passed in 1983. It should be noted that Gujarat is PM Modi’s home state where he served as chief minister from 2001 to 2014.
Gujarat University had refused to reveal the truth behind Modi’s degree and challenged the CIC order in Gujarat High Court. In 2023, Gujarat High Court had quashed and set aside the CIC order.
Justice Datta of Delhi high court heavily relied on the argument of the Gujarat High Court, and stated in his order “This court cannot be oblivious to the reality that what may superficially appear to be an innocuous or isolated disclosure could open the floodgates of indiscriminate demands, motivated by idle curiosity or sensationalism, rather than any objective ‘public interest’ consideration.
It may also be recalled the both the Delhi University and Gujarat University had said that PM Narendra Modi’s degrees were ‘authentic’, but analysts have raised several questions regarding the authenticities on various grounds including technical ones. That is why they wanted to inspect the results, for which universities never allowed.
In 2021, Gujarat University had provided details about PM Narendra Modi’s MA degree. Vice Chancellor M N Patel had said, “Narendra Damodardas Modi passed his M.A. in Political Science in 1983 with first class, securing 499 out of 800 marks, which comes to 62.3 per cent, as an external student.” However, the university had no records of his graduation degree. Mr. Patel said, “Mr. Modi was enrolled in the Gujarat University for post-graduation only, so we don’t have details of his B.A.”
The question was raised at that time, “How could he get admission in M.A. in Gujarat University? While filing applications for M.A., he must have attached his B.A. degree. Why is the university not disclosing it?” There was no answer to this question yet.
Delhi University had clarified in 2016 that the PM’s records have been maintained in DU and he cleared his BA exams from the University in 1978. He was awarded the degree in 1979.DU also said that two different roll number’s were allotted to Modi in 1977 and 1978 and his name ‘Narendra Kumar Damodar Das Modi’, which was seen on a marksheet flashed by AAP leader Ashutosh on TV, is nothing but a spelling mistake.
Moments after Amit Shah flashed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BA and MA degrees at a press conference and demanded an apology from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for raking up a false issue, the AAP hit back, claiming that the degrees displayed by the BJP president were fake.
Apart from the name mismatch there is also the date of birth mismatch in degrees and affidavits of PM Narendra Modi. Gujarat University mentioned his death of birth as August 29, 1949, while as per PM Modi’s website and other official records it is September 17, 1950. There is also no clarification available for this.
Modi’s degree issue fails to die, even after the orders of the Gujarat and Delhi High Courts that set aside CIC orders. People still want to know the truth, because they are not convinced about the clarifications rendered so far. (IPA Service)
