Defamation charges framed against Medha Patkar

A Delhi court today framed defamation charges against Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar in a case lodged against her by Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman V K Saxena.

Metropolitan Magistrate Nishant Garg framed the notice on charges in a complaint lodged by Saxena against Patkar for allegedly defaming him on a TV news channel in 2006.

Prima facie case is made out against the accused for the offences, the magistrate said.

The court framed the notice against the activist under sections 499/500 (defamation) of the IPC and fixed the matter for recording of Saxena's evidence on August 28 which entails a punishment of up to two years.

Patkar and Saxena have been embroiled in a legal battle since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Saxena was then the chief of an Ahmedabad-based NGO, National Council for Civil Liberties.

Saxena, in turn, had filed two cases against her for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory press statement against him.

The notice was framed today in one of the defamation cases filed against Patkar by Saxena in which she had allegedly made a statement in April 2006 on a panel discussion on a news channel claiming that Saxena had received civil contracts from Gujarat-based Sardar Sarovar Nigam, which manages the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The allegation was denied by Saxena.

Soon after the defamation complaint was lodged by Saxena against Patkar, Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd, in a letter to the Gujarat Police, had said that "V K Saxena, neither in his personal capacity, nor as President of National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), ever applied to the Nigam for the award of any civil contract and/or for any supply contract in the past, nor the Nigam has ever given any civil or any other contract to him or to his NGO-- NCCL."