Smriti Irani holding BJP back from going all out against Jitender Tomar

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The cases

• Delhi law minister Jitender Tomar had to quit after it was alleged that he had faked his qualifications.

• Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani is accused of listing different educational qualifications in three affidavits since 2004.

The difference

• The man who filed both cases, AK Manan of the Bar Council of Delhi, says Irani\'s offence is comparatively minor.

• Tomar, meanwhile, has been booked under the IPC sections for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

What the future holds

• The court hearing the Irani case is expected to pronounce its judgment on 24 June.

• If the judgment is in her favour, the BJP could come out all guns blazing against Tomar and the AAP.

• But if the court finds her guilty, it could take the heat off Tomar and some other AAP MLAs whose affidavits are also under the scanner.

At first, it may seem curious that the BJP has not come out all guns blazing against Arvind Kejriwal in the Jitender Tomar fake degree case. In the past, the party has demanded the Delhi chief minister's resignation on lesser issues.

In April this year, the BJP had brought out hundreds of its supporters to protest outside Kejriwal's house regarding a road rage incident. Water cannons had to be used by the police to control the protestors. Yet, this time around, no such thing has happened.

It took three whole days for the BJP to demand Kejriwal's scalp on the Tomar fake degree issue. And up to now, its supporters have not taken to the streets of Delhi to protest.

The reason could be that the party realises there's a time-bomb ticking for its central government too. The party's aggressive young face, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani herself, has been dragged to a Delhi court for allegedly filing false election affidavits about her degrees.

If Irani is guilty of violating Representation of the People Act, she can get six months in jail, a fine, or both

She is alleged to have lied on oath about her educational qualifications and falsified some other facts while filing her nomination papers for contesting elections. She has done this not once, but three times.

There are some similarities between the case of Tomar and that of Irani.

They also have a common bete noire - A K Manan, chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD). It was Manan who had filed a complaint against Tomar for lying to the Bar Council, based on which Tomar was later arrested. And it is Manan again, as counsel for freelance write Ahmer Khan, who is fighting the legal case against Irani.

Different qualifications

Manan says Irani has filed three election affidavits since 2004 and has mentioned different educational qualifications in all three.

"In her affidavit for the April 2004 Lok Sabha election, she claimed to have completed her BA in 1996 from Delhi University (School of Correspondence). In another affidavit on July 11, 2011, for contesting the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat, she mentioned her highest educational qualification as B. Com. Part-I from the School of Correspondence, Delhi University. And, in the affidavit filed for nomination for the 16 April 2014 Lok Sabha poll from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, she claimed that she completed B. Com. Part-I from School of Open Learning, Delhi University," he points out.

Manan is building a case against Irani by invoking Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act. The Act provides for punishing a candidate for failing to furnish information, providing false information and for concealing information during the process of nomination.

If Irani is convicted on any of these three counts, she can attract a maximum sentence of six months' imprisonment, or a fine, or both. The court has reserved its order for 24 June.

"It is a matter for concern. that a person who is to steer and guide the future of the country herself appears to have made false statements in a statutorily prescribed affidavit, thereby rendering herself to prosecution," the complaint against Irani states.

While AAP has now distanced itself from Tomar, it has nevertheless accused the BJP-led central government of following double standards - one for Irani and another for Tomar.

"Are there two sets of laws in this country? How come the law doesn't apply to Smriti Irani or Ram Shankar Katheria (another BJP leader accused of forging documents) but is used with gusto against Delhi's law minister? Modi can take all the cases against ours MLAs and hand them over to a fast track court and jail those who are found guilty. But what about his ministers?" asks AAP leader Sanjay Singh.

BJP's Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay, on the other hand, claims his party has never been defensive on the Irani issue. "We have never been on the back foot on this count. It is our duty to keep the pressure on AAP whenever they make a mistake and we will continue to do so," he declares.

Tomar in bigger trouble

While both Tomar and Irani are accused of providing false educational qualification details, Tomar's offense is more severe, explains Manan.

"As far as Tomar's case is concerned, he has forged documents, filed fictitious documents and a false affidavit before the Bar Council, for which he is paying a price. Smriti Irani, on the other hand, has just filed false affidavits," he explains.

This explains why Tomar has been charged under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code - Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery with purpose of cheating) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy). The accusation against Irani is far less severe.

Larger ramifications

Irani and her party members are possibly waiting with trepidation for the order of the Delhi trial court, which is likely to be announced on June 24. If the court finds her guilty, it would be a major embarrassment for the party. The quantum of her sentence is another issue altogether.

The future of several AAP MLAs, who are accused of filing false affidavits, may also be affected by the outcome of Irani's case.

There are those who believe that a judgment in Irani's favour could see more AAP MLAs being put under the police scanner with a thorough evaluation of their election affidavits filed. Conversely, a decision against Irani could make the protest and outcry against these AAP MLAs fizzle out.