Ahmedabad: Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has challenged the summons issued by the metro court in the defamation case filed by the Gujarat University to avoid appearing in person for the hearing on July 26 in the city’s metro court.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference on April 1, 2023, and made inappropriate remarks about the Prime Minister’s degree. The matter was also posted on Twitter. The next day, on April 2, Kejriwal’s aide and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh also held a press conference about the Prime Minister’s degree and posted the details on Twitter. Gujarat University was also mentioned in both the press conference and the tweet.

In response to this, the university filed a defamation complaint in the Metro Court. During the last hearing, Arvind Kejriwal’s representative argued that a flood situation had occurred in Delhi due to heavy rains, leading to emergency meetings being held in the city. As a result, Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Delhi MP, Sanjay Singh, requested an exemption from attending the meeting. The university’s lawyer did not object to this request.

The court referred to the Supreme Court’s 2018 order of speedy trial, which requires the hearing of cases against MLAs and MPs to be conducted promptly and reported accordingly. As per this order, the court fixed the accused to appear on July 26 for a further hearing. However, Arvind Kejriwal has now challenged the summons issued by the metro court in the sessions court. The Sessions Court will hear the matter on August 5, which means Arvind Kejriwal will not remain present in the Metro Court even on July 26.