Explainer: Why Smriti Irani is in trouble

Explainer: Why Smriti Irani is in trouble
Explainer: Why Smriti Irani is in trouble
Written by:

  A court in Delhi on Wednesday took cognizance of a complaint against Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani for allegedly misrepresenting facts in her election affidavits. Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain considered the private complaint against Irani and fixed August 28 for recording pre-summoning evidence in the case. On June 1, Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain had reserved the order on the plea after hearing arguments on the aspect of limitation and whether cognizance can be taken or not.  Who filed the complaint? The complaint was filed by freelance writer Ahmer Khan, who claimed that there were several discrepancies in the minister's affidavits that she had filed before the Election Commission.  What is the complaint? Khan's lawyer K.K. Manan told the court that Irani declared herself to be a 1996 batch B.A. graduate from Delhi University in her affidavit filed for the 2004 Lok Sabha election. In her 2014 Lok Sabha election affidavit however, 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. According to the complaint, her three affidavits before the EC while filing nominations for her candidature for Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha polls, saw Irani give different details about her educational qualifications. In another affidavit of July 11, 2011 for contesting Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat she said her highest qualification was B.Com first year from the School of Correspondence, DU.  The petition claimed that Irani also lied on oath about her assets and it sought action against her for offences under the Representation of the People Act.  What the opposition has said This comes in the backdrop of the recent arrest of former Delhi law minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Jitender Singh Tomar in an alleged fake degree case.  The AAP has already demanded that the minister step down from her post and a complete probe on the incident should take place. Opposition parties like the Congress have also asked for Irani to be removed from the cabinet of ministers.   JUST IN -- Will Delhi police arrest Smriti Irani as it did with Tomar and will PM Modi ask her to resign?: AAP leader Ashutosh. — The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) June 24, 2015.@smritiirani should resign or @PMOIndia should remove her from the cabinet: Randeep Surjewala, Congress — IndiaTodayFLASH (@IndiaTodayFLASH) June 24, 2015Court admits case against Smriti Irani in degree row; says there is merit in case but petitioner to prove. More @ZeeNews — Rohit Sardana (@sardanarohit) June 24, 2015  What has Smriti Irani said? Irani has been dodgy with her answers ever since the news came out. "In that kitty of mine where people call me 'anpad' (illiterate), I do have a degree from Yale University as well which I can bring out and show how Yale celebrated my leadership capacities. Extraneous circumstances are being created so that I deviate my concentration from what my goals are," Irani had earlier said in her defense.  The union minister was reffering to June 19, 2013 when she underwent a crash course at the Yale university along with 11 other Indian MPs for a six-day leadership program.  After being pressed for an answer, she said "Please go and file a PIL against me in court. I shall give you your answer in court to settle this once and for all"  With IANS     

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com