Medha Patkar was accused of issuing a press release against the Lt. Governor and thus trying to tarnish his image in the public eye. Not only this, the court ordered Medha Patkar to pay an amount of Rs 10 lakh to Vinay Saxena and 5 months imprisonment to Medha Patkar. This would be to compensate for their disgrace. Delhi’s Saket Court has awarded this sentence to the activist in a criminal defamation case filed by Lt Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena.
Medha Patkar’s reaction: ‘Truth can never be defeated. We did not try to defame anyone. We just work. We will challenge this decision in the high court. Medha Patkar is associated with ‘Save Narmada Movement’.
Earlier, the court had declared Medha Patkar guilty in a hearing held on June 7 and fixed July 1 as the date for sentencing. Earlier, the court had said that Patkar’s statement calling Saxena not a patriot but a coward and alleging her involvement in the hawala transaction was not only defamatory but was designed to incite a negative perception.
Patkar and Saxena have been at loggerheads since 2000, when Patkar filed a suit against Saxena for publishing advertisements against him and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Saxena also filed two cases against Patkar for making disparaging remarks against her (Saxena) on a TV channel and making defamatory statements to the press. In this way, after 23 years, the verdict against Medha Patkar has come.
