Delhi High Court has reserved its order on Medha Patkar’s plea challenging her defamation conviction in a 23-year-old case filed by Delhi LG V K Saxena. Patkar was found guilty for a 2000 press release calling Saxena’s actions a sell-out of Gujarat’s interests.
New Delhi: Today, on July 15, the Delhi High Court has reserved its judgment on a petition filed by social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar. She had approached the court to challenge her punishment in a defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena.
The case dates back 23 years, to a time when Saxena was leading an NGO in Gujarat.
The hearing was conducted by Justice Shalinder Kaur, who allowed both sides in the matter to file their written submissions by July 18.
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Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh appeared on behalf of Medha Patkar, while advocate Gajinder Kumar represented V K Saxena.
The case against Patkar was related to a press release she had issued on November 24, 2000, where she made allegations against Saxena.
Back then, he was the president of the National Council of Civil Liberties. Saxena had filed the defamation case in response to her statements which, according to the court, questioned his integrity and public work.
The Magistrate Court had found Patkar guilty under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with defamation. On July 1, 2024, the court sentenced her to five months of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
In its order, the court said that Patkar’s press statement was
“not only per se defamatory but also crafted to incite negative perceptions”
about Saxena.
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The court further observed that her accusation that Saxena was
“mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources to foreign interests” amounted to a “direct attack on his integrity and public service”.
Medha Patkar then challenged this decision in the Sessions Court, but on April 2, the court rejected her appeal. The court upheld her conviction and said she was “rightly convicted”, further stating that there was “no substance” in her challenge to the verdict.
However, instead of sending her to jail, the Sessions Court on April 8 released her on “probation of good conduct” after she furnished a probation bond of Rs 25,000. The court also imposed a condition that she must pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
The High Court later passed an interim order, suspending the sentence and granting her bail on a personal bond of Rs 25,000.
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For context, probation is a legal process where a person found guilty is not sent to jail immediately. Instead, they are released under conditions such as good behaviour and are expected to stay away from any wrongdoing during that period.
Now, the High Court has completed hearing arguments and will give its final order soon. The written submissions by both parties are expected by July 18, after which the court will likely pronounce its decision.
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