New Delhi: In a major relief to Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, a Delhi court on Thursday acquitted him in a criminal defamation case filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar.
“It is hereby held that the complainant (Patkar) has failed to prove her case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused. Accused V.K. Saxena is hereby acquitted for the offence punishable under Section 500 of the IPC,” ordered Judicial Magistrate First Class Raghav Sharma of the Saket Courts.
The court observed that there was no material on record to show that Saxena had published any imputation concerning Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar personally, either with intent to harm or with knowledge that such publication would harm her reputation.
It further held that a plain reading of the advertisement showed that the criticism was directed against the NBA as an organisation and specific individuals, such as Chitrupa Palit, and not Medha Patkar personally.
“The complainant’s name appears only in the heading and there is no reference to her in the body of the advertisement where substantive allegations are made,” the court observed.
The judgment came after the Saket court, in March 2025, had dismissed Patkar’s application seeking examination of an additional witness, observing that the plea appeared to be a “deliberate attempt to delay the trial”.
The 25 year old litigation dates back to the period when LG Saxena was active in Gujarat and had not yet assumed charge at Delhi’s Raj Niwas. The case was transferred from Ahmedabad to Delhi’s Saket Court on the orders of the Supreme Court.
Saxena was heading an Ahmedabad-based NGO ‘Council for Civil Liberties’ in 2000 when Patkar filed a defamation case against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Later, Saxena also filed a defamation case against Patkar for defaming him in a press note dated November 25, 2000, titled ‘True face of patriot.’
She was sentenced to five months’ simple imprisonment and ordered to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Saxena.
The sentence was subsequently suspended, and she was granted bail. While the Supreme Court upheld her conviction, it struck down the penalty and clarified that the supervision order would not apply.
(IANS)
