Row over degree: Plea against Smriti maintainable, court says
TNN
New Delhi, 24 Jun 2015: A trial court on Wednesday took cognizance of a complaint filed against Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani for allegedly misrepresenting facts about educational qualifications in her election affidavits.
Admitting the complaint, metropolitan magistrate Akash Jain fixed August 28 for recording of pre-summoning evidence in the case against Irani.
"Yes, the court has found plea maintainable, but only to the extent that complainant must show proof on the day of hearing," Smriti Irani’s counsel said.
On June 1, the court had reserved its order on deciding maintainability of the complaint filed by Ahmer Khan, a freelance writer.
Khan had filed the complaint in April seeking action against the minister for allegedly lying on oath about her educational qualification and assets.
Khan’s lawyer KK Manan had told the court that Irani declared herself to be a 1996 batch BA graduate from Delhi University in her affidavit filed for the 2004 Lok Sabha election. But in her 2014 Lok Sabha election affidavit, she stated she had done B.Com Part 1 in 1994 from Delhi University.
"It is evident from the contents of the affidavits filed by Irani that at best, only one of the depositions by her on oath in respect of her educational qualifications is correct," said the petitioner’s counsel Manan.
The petition seeks Irani to be prosecuted for an offence under section 25 of the Representation of the People Act. If convicted for the offence by the court, Irani can be sentenced to upto six months imprisonment.