NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has instructed a lower court to postpone proceedings in a long-standing defamation case filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar against city’s Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
Justice Shalinder Kaur directed that the trial court list the matter for a date beyond May 20, the day set by the HC to hear Patkar’s plea challenging a prior order that rejected her bid to introduce and examine an additional witness.Back on March 27, the HC had issued notice on Patkar’s petition and scheduled it for hearing on May 20.
However, it came to light on Wednesday that the trial court had listed the case for final arguments on April 19. Patkar’s legal team argued that proceeding with the case before the HC ’s hearing would render their plea ineffective.
Noting that a response to Patkar’s petition had not yet been filed by Saxena’s legal representatives, the High Court directed the trial court to defer the matter. “In view of the above, the trial court is directed to give a date beyond the date given by this court [i.e. May 20]. The application is disposed of,” the order read.
Patkar had approached the HC after the trial court, on 18 March, refused her request to summon a new witness. The trial court had observed that the application seemed to be a strategic delay tactic rather than a legitimate requirement.
The origins of the case date back to 2000, when Saxena, then heading the Ahmedabad-based NGO, Council for Civil Liberties, allegedly ran advertisements targeting Patkar and her movement. In response, Patkar filed a defamation case against him.
Simultaneously, Saxena filed a counter-defamation suit against Patkar over a press release titled “True Face of Patriot,” issued on November 25, 2000, in which Patkar allegedly called him a “coward” and “unpatriotic.” Patkar was convicted in that matter but was released on a one-year probation. Her appeal against the conviction is currently pending before Justice Kaur.
Regarding her own case against Saxena, Patkar had sought to introduce a new witness, citing her entitlement under Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code to call any witness to support her claim.