The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday rejected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against an order that set aside a directive asking Gujarat University to disclose information related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s academic degree.A Division Bench of Chief Justice Jattvibeita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray upheld the single-judge’s order, finding no grounds to interfere with the decision quashing the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) 2016 directive and imposing a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal.”In the totality of facts and circumstances of the present case, no error on any of the submissions of the appellant herein can be found in the judgment impugned. The appeal stands dismissed accordingly with no further order as to cost,” the high court said.While quashing the CIC order, the single-judge Bench of the high court had on March 31, 2023, also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal and reprimanded him for misusing RTI provisions, saying his approach was casual.During the hearings of his appeal, Kejriwal’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi had challenged the basis for imposing costs, arguing that his client had not “persisted” seeking PM Modi’s degree, as against the single-Bench observation to this effect.He had contended that the CIC had initiated proceedings ‘suo motu’ and named him as a respondent based on a letter and not a formal application.Furthermore, Gujarat University had submitted that the degree was already available online; however, in his review petition before the single-Bench, Kejriwal’s lawyers had pointed out that it was never made available online — a plea that was rejected.