On Thursday, the Gujarat High Court rejected a request to suspend the summons issued to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh. These summons were issued by a magistrate's court as part of a criminal defamation case brought by Gujarat University concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's academic credentials.

During a hearing on their joint petitions requesting the cancellation of the summons previously issued by the trial court, Justice JC Doshi issued notifications to both Gujarat University and the state government. The case is now scheduled for a comprehensive hearing on November 3.

Given that the magistrate's court in Ahmedabad, responsible for overseeing the defamation trial and issuing the summons to AAP leaders in April, is set to consider the case on October 14, senior advocate Rebecca John, representing the AAP leaders, requested Justice Doshi to provide interim relief before that upcoming hearing.

Rebecca John, who was attending the proceedings virtually, urged the court by saying, "The matter is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, on October 14, before the magistrate. So, if you could issue an order to temporarily halt the trial until this petition is considered... If interim protection is not granted, then today's hearing would be rendered ineffective and pointless."

Justice Doshi declined to provide relief at this point, stating, "No, at the moment, we cannot. We can schedule a hearing as soon as possible, but no order will be issued today."

When advocate Aum Kotwal, who was representing the AAP leaders, requested the court to consider their "adjournment application" that they planned to submit on October 14 in response to the trial court proceedings, Justice Doshi declined to entertain this application. Instead, he advised the petitioners to seek relief from the trial court.

The High Court judge also rejected Kotwal's request to issue an order instructing the trial court to consider the adjournment application if it is submitted in the future.

AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, as well as the party's Rajya Sabha member Singh, have taken their case to the High Court. They are challenging the decision of the sessions court, which was issued on September 14, to dismiss their revision applications regarding the trial court's summons in the criminal defamation case filed by Gujarat University.

Previously, Sessions court judge JM Brahmbhatt had affirmed the decision of the trial court to summon the two leaders, stating that the trial court's order was "neither illegal nor erroneous."

The metropolitan court in the area had issued a summons to Kejriwal and Singh on April 15. This summons was in relation to the defamation case filed by the university, citing their "sarcastic" and "derogatory" statements concerning the Prime Minister's degree.

Gujarat University registrar Piyush Patel had initiated a defamation case against the two AAP leaders due to their remarks. These comments were made after the high court had overturned a decision by the Chief Information Commissioner regarding Prime Minister Modi's degree.

The complainant alleged that the two politicians had made "defamatory" statements during press conferences and also on their Twitter accounts (referred to as "X" here) while targeting the university in connection with Prime Minister Modi's degree.

The complainant argued that their statements were characterized by sarcasm and were intentionally made to damage the reputation of the university, which had built a strong reputation among the public.

The two leaders had submitted revision applications to the sessions court in an attempt to challenge the summons issued by the metropolitan court. However, on August 7, the sessions court dismissed their request for a temporary halt to the trial. Following this, they decided to seek relief from the High Court.