On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court directed a trial court to postpone the hearing in a defamation case filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar against Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The order was passed by Justice Shalinder Kaur, who instructed the trial court to list the matter on a date after May 20, 2025. This is the same date on which the High Court will hear Patkar’s petition against a prior order that had rejected her request to examine an additional witness in support of her defamation claim.
"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 High Court stated in its order.
Earlier, on March 27, Justice Kaur had issued a notice on Patkar’s plea and had fixed the matter for hearing on May 20. However, it was brought to the court’s notice that the trial court had already scheduled the defamation matter for final arguments on April 19.
Patkar’s counsel argued that continuing with the trial court proceedings would render the High Court petition infructuous—as the witness application would lose relevance if final arguments took place beforehand. Saxena’s counsel, on the other hand, informed the court that a reply to Patkar’s petition is still awaited.
Patkar had moved the High Court to challenge a March 18 order passed by the trial court, which had dismissed her application to summon a new witness. The trial court had observed that the request appeared to be a deliberate attempt to delay the trial, rather than a necessary legal step.
The background of the case dates back to the year 2000, when Saxena—then heading an Ahmedabad-based NGO called “Council for Civil Liberties”—allegedly published defamatory advertisements against Patkar and the Narmada Bachao Andolan movement. This led Patkar to file the current defamation case against him.
In a parallel case, Saxena had also filed a counter defamation case against Patkar. He accused her of defaming him in a press note dated November 25, 2000, titled "True Face of Patriot," where she allegedly called him a coward and not a patriot.
Patkar was convicted in that matter but was granted probation for one year. Her appeal against the conviction is still pending before Justice Kaur.
In the current case against Saxena, Patkar had argued that under Section 254(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), she had the legal right to summon any witness to support her claims. She insisted that there is no legal bar on introducing additional witnesses during the trial.
However, the trial court disagreed, pointing out that the case has been pending for 24 years, and all originally listed witnesses had already been examined.
“The complainant has not provided any explanation as to when, how, or under what circumstances she became aware of this witness. If she was aware of the witness from the outset, she has offered no justification for the prolonged delay in summoning them. Conversely, if she claims to have only recently discovered the witness, she has not explained how such discovery occurred. This lack of explanation further weakens the credibility of her request,” the trial court observed.
The High Court’s recent order offers temporary relief to Patkar by ensuring that the trial court does not proceed until her High Court plea is decided, thus preserving the purpose of her challenge related to witness examination.
Title: Medha Patkar v. LG Saxena
