AHMEDABAD: Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena has to face criminal proceedings. On Monday, the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Court denied his appeal for exemption from criminal prosecution while he serves as the Delhi L-G.
Saxena is on trial for allegedly assaulting Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar in 2002 at Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Ashram. Two BJP MLAs, Amit P Shah and Amit Thaker, and a Congress leader, Rohit Patel, are also accused along with Saxena.
Additional Metropolitan Judge P N Goswami denied Saxena’s application. Lawyers in the case stated they would know the reason for denying the application only after they received a copy of the order. Saxena is likely to appeal the order in the Gujarat High Court.
Social worker Medha Patkar opposed the L-G’s demand for immunity from criminal prosecution. She claimed that he did not qualify for an exception because he was not the governor. Saxena’s attorney maintained that under the rules of Article 361 of the Constitution, criminal proceedings could not be conducted against him cannot while he is still the L-G. In accordance with Article 2, Section 2, “no criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or against the President, or the Governor of a State, in any court during his term of office.”
The assault allegedly happened in 2002 at the Mahatma Gandhi-founded Sabarmati Ashram during a programme called for peace in the aftermath of the post-Godhra riots. An FIR was filed with the Sabarmati police station, accusing Saxena and three other people of unlawful assembly, assault, wrongful restraint, and criminal intimidation, among other things. The Metropolitan Court of Ahmedabad has begun the trial in this matter after 21 years for the framing of charges.