On Wednesday, a Delhi court will pronounce its order on the union HRD minister Smriti Irani for giving false information about her educational qualification in her affidavits filed before the election commission.
The court had reserved its order on June 1 in a case filed by freelance writer Ahmed Khan, who accused Irani of providing contradictory affidavits about her educational qualifications during different elections.
Khan’s lawyer had informed the court that the HRD minister, in her affidavit for 2004 Loksabha elections, stated her educational qualification as BA from Delhi University (school of correspondence). However, while filing affidavit in her Rajya Sabha nomination papers from Gujarat in 2011, she said her highest educational qualification was B.com, Part 1 (correspondence course) from Delhi University.
But in her elections papers filed during 2014 Loksabha elections from Amethi constituency, Irani said she had completed her B.com, Part 1 from Open Learning in Delhi University.
Khan’s lawyer, KK Manan, had told the court, “When she did BA part I, II or III even god does not know. The question is, what the society is asking today from a person who is holding the post of the minister.”
The issue of anomalies in Irani’s affidavits related to her educational qualifications had cropped up after the Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas, who contested against the HRD minister from Amethi, raised this question.
Delhi’s former law minister, Jitender Singh Tomar is currently being investigated for allegedly providing fake degrees. This was followed by allegations that two senior ministers in the BJP led government of Maharashtra too had obtained fake degrees.