New Delhi : A Delhi court on Friday convicted social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar in a defamation case. The court gave this verdict on a petition filed by then KVIC chairman V K Saxena, who is now Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG). Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma found Patkar guilty of criminal defamation. Under the relevant law, Medha Patkar can be punished with two years of imprisonment or fine or both.
A legal battle has been going on between Medha Patkar and LG Saxena since 2000. Then Medha Patkar had filed a case against V K Saxena for publishing an advertisement against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan movement. According to the information, at that time Saxena was the head of the Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties.
V K Saxena had also filed two cases against her for making derogatory comments against him on a TV channel and for issuing an alleged defamatory statement to the press.
