A Delhi court has rejected social activist Medha Patkar’s appeal against conviction, upholding her five-month jail sentence and Rs 10 lakh fine for defaming Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. The court ruled that Patkar deliberately propagated false allegations to tarnish Saxena’s reputation, using the internet as a “smokescreen” to spread misleading claims.
Pronouncing the verdict, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh of Saket Courts delivered a scathing rebuke, asserting that the evidence against Patkar was overwhelming. “Her involvement in the authorship and publication of the defamatory press note is as hidden as an elephant behind an office table,” the court remarked, reinforcing its stance that Patkar was the driving force behind the defamatory content.
This ruling comes as a decisive moment in a legal battle that has spanned nearly 24 years, stemming from a bitter clash between Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and Saxena, who had exposed what he claimed were the “true motives” behind her anti-dam movement.
The controversy began in 2000 when Saxena—then the President of the National Council of Civil Liberties—published an advertisement titled “True Face of Ms. Medha Patkar and her Narmada Bachao Andolan.” The advertisement was highly critical of NBA, which opposed the construction of dams on the Narmada river, arguing that it was obstructing critical infrastructure projects under the guise of environmental and human rights concerns.
In response, Patkar issued a press note titled “True Facts of a Patriot – Response to an Advertisement”, in which she accused Saxena of being a hypocrite who had previously supported NBA, praised its efforts, and even donated Rs 40,000 through a cheque from the Lalbhai Group—only for it to bounce. The note provocatively questioned, “What is the connection between Lalbhai Group and VK Saxena? Who among them is more ‘Patriot’?”
Saxena swiftly responded by filing a defamation case against Patkar in an Ahmedabad court in 2001, challenging the veracity of her claims. The Supreme Court later transferred the case to Delhi in 2003. After over two decades of legal proceedings, the trial court found Patkar guilty in July 2024, sentencing her to five months of imprisonment and ordering her to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to Saxena.
Throughout the trial, LG Saxena maintained that he had never visited Malegaon, never praised NBA, and never issued a cheque to the Lok Samiti for NBA. He provided witnesses and evidence proving that the claims made in Patkar’s press note were fabricated.
While Patkar denied any involvement in authoring or disseminating the press note, the court found clear evidence linking her to the document. The press note had been published on Narmada.org, a website aligned with NBA that actively promoted Patkar’s activities. The judgment noted that while no direct email evidence was found proving Patkar personally sent the note, its publication on Narmada.org—a known NBA mouthpiece—was irrefutable.
“The website was actively advancing the propaganda of NBA through press releases and organised visits by Medha Patkar as a tool for public outreach,” the court observed, adding that she “used the smokescreen of the virtual world to disseminate the defamatory content.”
The court dismissed Patkar’s defense as baseless, stating that whether she personally emailed the press note to media outlets or not was irrelevant. “Rediff.com only published a press note that was already available on Narmada.org, with the only difference being its translation from English to Gujarati,” the judgment read.
The court firmly ruled that Patkar’s press note was designed to “discredit and malign” LG Saxena’s reputation. By falsely claiming that LG Saxena had donated to NBA and then branding him a coward and “not a patriot”, the note attempted to portray him as two-faced and unreliable in the eyes of the public.
“The complainant (LG Saxena) actively supported the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project and raised his voice against NBA, which was spearheaded by Medha Patkar. The defamatory statements in the press note were meant to create a false impression and damage his credibility,” the court stated.
It further highlighted that Patkar’s allegations were not only false but also intended to undermine LG Saxena’s public image in a politically charged environment.
