Supreme Court upholds conviction of Medha Patkar in defamation case by Delhi L-G VK Saxena, waives penalty

The trial court, which had convicted her in an order dated July 1, 2024, awarded a sentence of simple imprisonment for five months, along with a direction to pay Rs 1 lakh to Saxena as compensation. The court also further stipulated that in default of payment, she would undergo an additional term of simple imprisonment for three months.

On appeal, the Additional Sessions Judge affirmed the conviction but allowed her release on probation subject to specified conditions.

This was challenged before the Delhi High Court, which on July 29, refused to interfere with the order of the additional sessions judge but modified the condition of the probation, requiring Patkar to appear before the trial court every three months during consideration of the periodical supervision report. The Delhi High Court also permitted her to appear either physically, through Video Conferencing, or to be represented by an Advocate during such appearances.

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Saxena, urged the court to impose at least a token penalty.

Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh, who represented Medha Patkar, contended that the lower courts refused to believe two major witnesses. Parikh also submitted that the email, which was an important evidence in the case, could not have been admitted as it was not certified as per Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act.

The genesis of the controversy lies in events dating back to 2000, when Saxena was the president of the National Council of Civil Liberties (NCCL), a registered society, actively supporting the Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), led by Patkar, opposed the same, citing environmental and human rights concerns.

On November 10, 2000, NCCL published an advertisement in The Indian Express titled “True face of Ms. Medha Patkar and her Narmada Bachao Andolan”, criticising NBA’s ideology and activities. Patkar responded through a press note, which Saxena contended was defamatory.

He alleged that on November 25, 2000, he received an email, a purported Rediff.com correspondent, enclosing a press note dated November 24, 2000 titled “True Face of a Patriot – Response to an Advertisement” and the press note, bearing Patkar’s name, was published in Gujarati on the Rediff.com website.

Saxena denied the veracity of the claims raised in the press note, and alleged that it caused considerable damage to his reputation, particularly among the Gujarati-speaking populace and supporters of the Sardar Sarovar Project.