Delhi HC instructs Saket court to delay hearing in Medha Patkar’s defamation case against LG Saxena

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has instructed the Saket trial court to defer the hearing in the defamation case filed by activist Medha Patkar against Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.

The High Court directed the trial court to schedule the matter for a date after May 20, as Patkar has challenged the trial court’s decision to reject her request to introduce and examine an additional witness in her defamation case.

The bench of Justice Shailender Kaur, who is examining the matter, had issued a notice in Patkar’s petition on March 27 and set the hearing for May 20.

During today’s proceedings, it was revealed that the trial court had set April 19 as the date for final arguments. Patkar’s counsel argued that proceeding with the trial court hearing before the High Court’s decision would render her petition meaningless.

Meanwhile, Saxena’s counsel informed the court that a response to the petition had not yet been submitted.

Patkar is contesting the trial court’s March 18 ruling, which dismissed her application, stating that it seemed more like an intentional delay tactic than a necessity.

In her defamation case against Saxena, Patkar sought to introduce a new witness, asserting that under Section 254(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, she had the right to examine any witness to substantiate her claims, without any restrictions on exercising this right.

Saxena, who currently serves as Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor, was previously the head of an Ahmedabad-based NGO, “Council for Civil Liberties.” In 2000, Patkar initiated a defamation case against him over advertisements published against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan movement. (ANI)