JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—A lawsuit challenging the government-issued education equivalency letter of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka remained before the Jakarta State Administrative Court on Thursday, Oct. 29, after the defendants opposed the plaintiff’s request to withdraw the case.

Constitutional law expert Denny Indrayana, who represents the plaintiff, subsequently walked out of the courtroom. He said his team no longer wished to continue the proceedings. This was because the Education Ministry had allegedly failed to submit records that formed the administrative basis for issuing the disputed letter.

The case, registered as No. 255/G/2026/PTUN.JKT, challenges Education Ministry Letter No. 9149/D.D1/KS/2019 dated Aug. 6, 2019. The plaintiff is asking the court to invalidate the document, which equated Gibran’s overseas education with an Indonesian secondary-school qualification.

Denny said his team had repeatedly requested Gibran’s Certificate of Attendance, academic transcript and proof of enrollment at UTS Insearch in Australia. He argued that the records were necessary to examine how the ministry reached its administrative decision.

“The evidence submitted today consisted of nine new documents, most of which were regulations again,” Denny said after leaving the hearing, as quoted by Tirto. “If the documents underlying the letter are not presented, why should we continue?”

The statement represented the plaintiff’s position and did not establish that the equivalency letter was invalid.

Gibran’s lawyer, Muhammad Rullyandi, disputed the suggestion that his client’s education records had been withheld. He said the legal team had included documents covering Gibran’s education history in a 69-page written response filed through the court’s electronic system.

Gibran’s lawyers presented his school certificates. They also submitted an O-Level certificate from Singapore and a Certificate of Attendance from UTS Insearch. Rullyandi said the team would present the original documents during the evidentiary process.

However, Denny maintained that the documents shown by Gibran’s lawyers did not fully answer a narrower question. That question was which primary records the ministry relied on when it issued the 2019 equivalency letter. The disagreement therefore concerns both the available education records and the ministry’s administrative process.

The Education Ministry and Gibran, who joined the proceedings as an intervening defendant, opposed the withdrawal request.

“This shows that the plaintiff is not serious and does not respect the dignity of the Administrative Court,” Rullyandi said.

Under Article 76 of Indonesia’s State Administrative Court Law, a plaintiff may independently withdraw a lawsuit before the defendant submits an answer. After that stage, the court may approve a withdrawal only if the defendant agrees.

Because both defendants objected, the judges could not grant the request through that mechanism. The lawsuit consequently remained pending at the time of reporting. Denny’s walkout did not determine the validity of Gibran’s education documents.

Later on Thursday, Denny met representatives of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to discuss possible parliamentary follow-up. That meeting formed a separate political track and did not alter the status of the administrative lawsuit.

The dispute therefore remains unresolved. A final judicial ruling—or the ministry’s fuller disclosure of its administrative records—would settle the legal questions surrounding the equivalency letter.