Delhi LG files reply to Medha Patkar's appeal against sentence, says plea not maintainable

New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Wednesday filed his reply to the appeal filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar against her five-month sentence, saying the appeal was legally not maintainable and was liable to be dismissed.

Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh of the Saket Court had on July 29 suspended Patkar's sentence in the defamation case filed by Saxena 23 years ago when he headed an NGO in Gujarat and sought his reply.

On July 1, a magisterial court had sentenced Patkar to five months of simple imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

On Wednesday, advocates Gajinder Kumar and Kiran Jai, counsel for Saxena, objected to Patkar's appeal saying it was not maintainable and was liable to be dismissed as Patkar did not sign it.

They said the appeal dated July 24 carried only the signature of Patkar's counsel.

Besides, she had filed a "false affidavit" which was "ante-dated" or signed and attested on July 17, the date on which the appeal did not exist, the advocates said, adding because of these reasons, there was "gross suspicion" about the "veracity and truthfulness" of the appeal's contents.

According to Saxena's reply, "Such manner of filing of an appeal i.e., without signatures of the accused or appellant (Patkar) and supported with the ante-dated false affidavit is not only an act of contempt of this court and perjury rather it is a smart strategy on the part of the appellant to disown any or entire facts and records as per her convenience."

The reply alleged that Patkar had previously misled the courts and tried to shift the burden on her advocates after being caught by pleading ignorance and inadvertent errors.

The court then asked Patkar's counsel Sri Devi to email a copy of the appeal under Patkar's signature on the court's official email ID.

It said that the "legal issues" raised by Saxena's advocate were being kept open.

The matter has been posted on October 18 for further proceedings.

Earlier, on May 24, a court had convicted Patkar observing that her statements calling Saxena a "coward" and alleging his involvement in hawala transactions were not only defamatory per se but also crafted to incite negative perceptions about him.

Patkar and Saxena have been locked in a legal tussle since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).

Saxena, who then headed an Ahmedabad-based NGO named 'Council for Civil Liberties', had also filed two cases against Patkar in 2001 for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory press statement.