Delhi court acquits L-G in defamation case filed by Medha Patkar

A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena in a defamation case filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar, noting that the complainant had failed to prove charges against the accused.

The acquittal order was pronounced by Judicial Magistrate First Class Raghav Sharma of Saket Court.

Later in the day, the L-G office, in a release, stated the acquittal was “a major judicial victory for Mr. Saxena in the 25-year-old case, pending since 2000”.

Ms. Patkar and Mr. Saxena have been locked in a legal tussle since 2000, after she moved court against him for publishing advertisements against her and the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’.

Mr. Saxena, who then headed an Ahmedabad-based NGO named ‘Council for Civil Liberties’, had also filed two cases against Ms. Patkar in 2001 for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory press statement.

A Court here last week acquitted Ms. Patkar in a defamation case filed by Mr Saxena.