Delhi High Court upholds Medha Patkar's conviction in defamation case by Delhi LG VK Saxena

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld social activist Medha Patkar's conviction in a defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena in 2000..Justice Shalinder Kaur ruled that there was no illegality in the decisions of the trial and appellate courts to convict her in the case filed by Saxena. The bench also upheld the appellate court's decision to release Patkar on probation. However, in a relief to Patkar, the Court modified the condition of probation requiring her to appear before the trial court every three months. The High Court said she can appear online or be represented by an advocate. "All the other conditions do not require any interference by this Court," Justice Kaur ruled. .Saxena, who was once the President of an organization called National Council of Civil Liberties, had in 2000 published an advertisement against Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), the movement that opposed the construction of dams over Narmada river.The advertisement was titled ‘True face of Ms. Medha Patkar and her Narmada Bachao Andolan’.Following the publication of the advertisement, Patkar issued a press notice against Saxena. The press note titled ‘True Facts of a Patriot – Response to an Advertisement’ alleged that Saxena himself had visited Malegaon, praised Narmada Bachao Andolan and paid ₹40,000 through cheque to Lok Samiti for Narmada Bachao Andolan. It also said that the cheque, which came from Lalbhai Group, had bounced."The cheque, please note, came from Lalbhai Group. What is the connection between Lalbhai Group and VK Saxena? Who among them is more ‘Patriot’" the press note said.The reporting of the press note led Saxena to file a defamation suit against Patkar before a court in Ahmedabad in 2001. The case was transferred to Delhi in 2003 on orders of the Supreme Court..In May-July 2024, Patkar was held guilty in the case and the magistrate court sentenced her to five months of jail and ordered her to pay ₹10 lakh compensation to Saxena. The Court ruled that Patkar imputed that Saxena was “mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources before Bill Gates and Wolfensohn and he was an agent of the Government of Gujarat”.“It is evident that the accused harbored a clear intention to defame the complainant through her press note, given the deliberate and calculated nature of her statements," the judge said.Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh of Saket Courts on April 2 this year upheld the magistrate court's verdict convicting Patkar. However, the Sessions Court on April 8 modified the punishment and released Patkar on probation on furnishing a probation bond of ₹25,000 with one surety of the like amount for a period of one year from the date of furnishing the probation bond and, subject to her depositing a compensation amount of ₹1 lakhs instead of ₹10 lakh. She then moved the High Court against her conviction..Advocates Abhimanue Shrestha and Sridevi Panikkar appeared for Patkar.Advocates Gajinder Kumar, Kiran Jai and Chandra Shekhar represented Saxena.[Read judgment]