In a major relief to Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, a Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed an application of social worker Medha Patkar to examine an additional witness in her defamation case against him, terming her application “a deliberate attempt to delay the trial”.
The 24-year-old litigation pertains to the time when LG Saxena was active in Gujarat and had not assumed charge in Delhi’s Raj Niwas. The case was moved to Delhi’s Saket Court in 2003 on the orders of the Supreme Court.
Mr Saxena was heading an Ahmedabad-based NGO ‘Council for Civil Liberties’ in 2000 when Ms Patkar filed a defamation case against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Later, Mr Saxena also filed a defamation case against Ms Patkar for defaming him in a press note dated November 25, 2000, titled “True face of patriot.” She was sentenced to 5-month simple imprisonment last year. The sentence was later suspended and she was granted bail.