Medha Patkar held guilty in defamation case filed by LG VK Saxena

Hash#ag News Bureau My24,2024

A Delhi court has convicted Narmada Bachao Andolan founder Medha Patkar in a nearly 20-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Delhi LG VK Saxena. According to the law, she can be punished with two years of jail or fine or both.

Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma of Saket Court has given this decision. Both Patkar and Delhi LG have been fighting a legal battle since 2000. Medha Patkar had filed a case against Saxena for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. After this, the current LG of Delhi had also filed two cases against Patkar for making derogatory remarks against Saxena on a TV channel and issuing defamatory press statements. VK Saxena was then the head of the Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties.

According to the Bar and Bench report, the court said that it is clear that the actions of the accused were deliberate and malicious. “This was intended to tarnish the name of the complainant and had in fact caused significant damage to his reputation and credibility in the eyes of the public,” it said. The statements of the accused portray the complainant as a coward and not a patriot. Alleging his involvement in hawala transactions is not only defamatory but also incites negative connotations.

The court said, ‘…the evidence examined has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had published the allegations with the intention and knowledge that the same would cause harm to the reputation of the complainant and therefore they had committed offenses under Section 500 of the IPC. Committed an offense punishable under. For this he is blamed.

Let us tell you that Patkar came into limelight in 1985 through the Narmada Bachao Andolan to highlight the issues of tribals, labourers, farmers, fishermen, their families and others living near the Narmada Valley.