look news india
New Delhi, May 24 (HS). Delhi's Saket Court has convicted Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar in a criminal defamation case. Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma ordered a hearing on the sentence of Medha Patkar on May 30.
This criminal defamation case was filed by VK Saxena, the then president of the National Council for Civil Liberties. VK Saxena is currently the Deputy Governor of Delhi. In this case, the court convicted Medha Patkar under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. The court said that it has become clear that Medha Patkar made allegations against VK Saxena with false information only to harm his reputation.
In fact, on 25 November 2000, Medha Patkar issued a statement in English accusing VK Saxena of hawala transactions and calling him a coward. Medha Patkar had said that VK Saxena was mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources for foreign interests. Medha Patkar had said in her defense filed in the court that VK Saxena has been issuing false and defamatory statements since the year 2000. Patkar had said that VK Saxena had also physically attacked her in 2002, after which Medha had lodged an FIR in Ahmedabad. Medha had said in the court that VK Saxena was working for corporate interests and he was against the demands of those opposing the Sardar Sarovar Project.
VK Saxena had filed a criminal defamation case against Medha Patkar in Ahmedabad court in 2001. The trial court of Gujarat had taken cognizance of the case. Later in 2003, the Supreme Court transferred the hearing of the case from Gujarat to Saket court in Delhi. In 2011, Medha Patkar declared herself innocent and said that she would face the trial.