Delhi HC upholds Medha Patkar’s conviction in LG case

In May 2024, metropolitan magistrate Raghav Sharma found Patkar guilty, sentenced her to five months’ imprisonment and imposed a ₹10-lakh fine

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld a trial court order convicting and sentencing activist Medha Patkar in a 2001 criminal defamation case filed by lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena, concluding that her statements were defamatory and tarnished Saxena’s image.

Justice Shalinder Kaur, in her 44-page ruling, upheld the sessions court order, observing that the same was passed after due consideration of evidence and law. (Representative photo)

The defamation case was filed by Saxena when he was heading the non-profit National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), which actively supported the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project in Gujarat. The case stemmed from a press release issued by Patkar, who led the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) that mobilised protests against the construction of the dam. A release titled “True Face of Patriot” alleged that Saxena had donated a cheque to the NBA, which later bounced and implied that he covertly aided the movement, which he publicly opposed.

In May 2024, metropolitan magistrate Raghav Sharma found Patkar guilty, sentenced her to five months’ imprisonment and imposed a ₹10-lakh fine. The sessions court in April upheld the conviction but set aside the jail term and released Patkar on probation.

Justice Shalinder Kaur, in her 44-page ruling, upheld the sessions court order, observing that the same was passed after due consideration of evidence and law. Patkar failed to demonstrate “glaring defects in the same”, justice Kaur added.

“The record suggests that the essential ingredients of Section 499 of the IPC are clearly made out. The imputations made were specific, published in the public domain and caused harm to the reputation of the respondent. The order under challenge appears to have been passed after due consideration of the evidence on record and the applicable law,” the judgment read.

It said, “Thus keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, when the appellate court is satisfied about the character, antecedents, the order on sentence does not warrant interference by this court in its revisional jurisdiction.”

In her appeal, Patkar, represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, asserted she had no connection with Narmada.org and did not have knowledge about the press note. Parikh further submitted that the release could have been typed by anyone, and mere addition of the name at the end of the note, could not be considered as proof that the release was issued or caused to be published by her.

On the contrary, Saxena, represented by advocate Gajender Kumar, asserted that Patkar played an active role in authorising the contents of the press release. He further submitted that even though the 70-year-old activist was not a convener of the web portal Narmada.org, on which the press release was uploaded, she was directly correlated to it since the portal contained NBA’s office address, which is the same as Patkar’s address.

Even though the court upheld the sentence, it modified the condition of probation, requiring her to physically appear before the trial court every three months. The high court said that she could either appear online or through her lawyer.

The same bench also upheld the trial court’s March 18 order refusing to permit her to examine new witnesses in the defamation case filed by her against Saxena. “In view of the above discussion, the impugned order does not suffer from any legal infirmity nor is manifestly unjust requiring interference by this court,” the order read.