Advertisment

Smriti Irani Fake Degree Row: A Chronological Recap

Education Minister Smriti Irani crawled back into the news by way of her fake degree controversy

author-image
Binjal Shah
New Update
Smriti Irani Fake Degree Row: A Chronological Recap

Education Minister Smriti Irani crawled back into the news by way of her fake degree controversy, and Wednesday was a rather important day in its course. The High Court has taken up the case against her, scheduled for hearing later this year. For those of you, though, who haven't been following the case from the start and understandably don't know why Twitter India is exploding with the #SmritiFakeDegree hashtag, here is a complete chronological sequence of the top developments  in the Smriti Irani Fake Degree Row:

Advertisment

 

2004:

Filing for Lok Sabha Polls through the BJP for the first time as a TV Actress, Irani had (allegedly) submitted documents proving her educational qualifications, which claimed that she graduated in the 1996 batch of B.A. from Delhi University.

 

2011

When the time came to submit her affidavit again in 2011 as a BJP Lok Sabha election, her certificated (allegedly) indicated that her highest educational qualification was B.Com Part 1 in 1994 from Delhi University.

Advertisment

 

2014

- Her 2014 documents, filing for candidature from the Amethi Constituency on April 16 before the Lok Sabha polls, were (allegedly) consistent with her 2011 ones, meaning they obviously weren't with her 2004 affidavit.

 

- Freelance Writer Ahmer Khan was the first to suspect discrepancies in her paperwork, and decided to probe further. He filed a complaint on the grounds that she is being untruthful with either one, or both of the inconsistent claims in her affidavits.

 

Advertisment

- His plea was worded, "The aforesaid facts and circumstances reveal commission of offences by accused under section 125A of Representation of People Act, 1951, besides any other offences that may attract other penal provisions as an outcome of an additional investigation,” the plea alleged.

 

May 14, 2015:

 

On May 14 2015, a hearing was scheduled in Patiala House court. However, the complainant Ahmer Khan pulled a no-show, and was fined Rs. 1000 for the same. The case was adjourned for hearing until June 1, 2015.

 

Advertisment

June 1. 2015 

 

Metropolitan magistrate Akash Jain reserved the order on the plea after hearing arguments on the aspect of limitation and whether cognisance can be taken or not. The date decided to announce the decision was tentatively pegged at 24th  June, 2015.

 

June 24 , 2015

 

A Trial court in Delhi court has finally taken cognizance of the complaint, which, in layman's terms, simply means that they have accepted the complaints and will hear the case against the Union HRD Minister. The grounds of the case being allegedly giving “false” information about her educational qualification in affidavits filed with the Election Commission. Aug 28, two months from now, has been fixed as the date for recording pre-summoning evidence.

 

Image Credits: Evartha.com

smriti irani Political Powerhouses smrit irani fake degree row smriti irani yale
Advertisment