A Delhi court has rejected an application filed by social activist Medha Patkar in her 24-year-old defamation case against Lieutenant Governor (LG) V.K. Saxena. The court dismissed Medha Patkar’s plea to introduce an additional witness, calling it a deliberate attempt to delay the long-pending trial.
The case dates back to 2000 when LG Saxena, then heading an Ahmedabad-based NGO, ‘Council for Civil Liberties,’ was accused of defaming Medha Patkar through published advertisements targeting her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. In response, LG Saxena also filed a counter-defamation case against Medha Patkar for allegedly maligning his reputation in a press note titled “True Face of Patriot.”
The case, which originally began in Gujarat, was transferred to Delhi’s Saket Court in 2003 following a Supreme Court order. Over the years, the trial has witnessed multiple delays, largely due to Medha Patkar’s repeated adjournment requests and absences. Between June 2005 and February 2023, the trial was reportedly delayed over 94 times, with Medha Patkar seeking adjournments on 46 occasions before even beginning to record her evidence. After receiving a summons in 2005, she did not appear in court until 2012—seven years later. Further, during her testimony, she took 24 adjournments before completing her cross-examination.
Dismissing Medha Patkar’s recent plea, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma of Saket Court expressed skepticism over the sudden emergence of a new witness at such an advanced stage of the trial. The court noted that Medha Patkar had already examined all the witnesses she had initially listed, and the failure to introduce this new witness earlier raised doubts about the legitimacy of her request. The court further observed that no credible explanation was provided as to how this witness was only recently discovered, thereby weakening the credibility of her plea.
Magistrate Sharma warned that allowing such late-stage applications without proper justification would set a dangerous precedent, potentially leading to endless trials where litigants could introduce new witnesses at will to prolong proceedings indefinitely. The judicial process, the court emphasized, cannot be held hostage to such tactics, especially in a case that has already spanned more than two decades.
This ruling marks another chapter in the long-standing legal battle between Medha Patkar and LG Saxena, underlining the challenges associated with prolonged litigation and procedural delays in high-profile defamation cases.
