New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction and punishment awarded to activist Medha Patkar in a defamation case filed by Delhi LG V K Saxena in 2000.
Justice Shalinder Kaur said the trial court order, against which Patkar had approached the high court, did not require any interference.
“Upon perusal this court finds no illegality in the order (by trial court) and requires no interference, and (appeal) accordingly dismissed,” Justice Kaur said.
Saxena filed the case 23 years ago when he was heading an NGO in Gujarat.
The high court said there was illegality or material irregularity in the findings of the trial court and added that the order of conviction was passed after due consideration of evidence and the applicable law.
It said that Patkar failed to demonstrate any defects in the procedure which was followed or any error in the law which resulted in the miscarriage of justice.
The judge also upheld the order on sentence, where Patkar was released on “probation of good conduct”, and said it did not require any interference.
Probation is a method of non-institutional treatment of offenders and a conditional suspension of sentence in which the offender, after conviction, is released on bond of good behaviour instead of being sent to prison. The High Court upheld Medha Patkar’s defamation conviction, modifying her probation to allow virtual or legal representation. Her plea to examine an additional witness was rejected. She was earlier sentenced to five months’ jail and fined
Rs 10 lakh. with agency inputs