The Delhi high court on Wednesday moved ahead with a legal standoff over the disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bachelor's degree, asking Delhi University to file its objections to pleas seeking condonation of delay in filing appeals against a controversial order.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela gave the varsity three weeks to respond to the applications. The court noted there had been a delay in filing the appeals challenging the single judge’s August order.

"Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appears for the respondent (Delhi University). Objections to the applications seeking condonation of delay may be filed within three weeks. Response to the said objection, if any, be filed by the appellants in two weeks thereafter," the bench said.

The matter is now slated for hearing on January 16, 2026.

Four appeals have been filed challenging a single judge’s order that had set aside a Central Information Commission (CIC) directive to disclose the Prime Minister’s degree.

The appeals were filed by Right to Information activist Neeraj, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, and advocate Mohd Irshad.

During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel argued that the single judge had made fundamental errors.

Solicitor General Mehta, representing the university, requested that notices not be issued at this stage, saying he would file a reply.

Noting the delay in filing the appeals, the court asked Mehta to file objections to the application seeking condonation.

“I was not aware there was a delay. I will go through the pleas. I have no hesitation in arguing the main matter also,” Mehta told the court.

The legal battle dates back to August 25, when the single judge had struck down the CIC order. The ruling stated that holding public office did not automatically make all personal information about PM Modi subject to public disclosure.

The judge dismissed any claim of "implicit public interest" in the information, noting that the RTI Act was meant to promote transparency in government functioning and "not to provide fodder for sensationalism."

The controversy stems from an RTI application filed by Neeraj in 2016, seeking access to records of all students who passed the BA exam in 1978 — the year PM Modi graduated.

The CIC had allowed inspection of these records, but the university challenged the order.

The single judge’s combined ruling in six petitions, including one from Delhi University, stopped the disclosure. While the university sought the CIC order to be set aside, it said it had no objection to presenting records to the court.

The ruling emphasised that educational qualifications were not a statutory requirement for holding public office or carrying out official duties.

"The situation might have been different, had educational qualifications been a pre-requisite for eligibility to a specific public office," the judge said, branding the CIC's approach "thoroughly misconceived."

The Delhi High Court had also previously set aside a CIC order directing the CBSE to provide copies of Class 10 and 12 records of former Union minister Smriti Irani.