New Delhi, March 18 (H.S.): The Saket Court in Delhi has rejected the plea of Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, to summon additional witnesses in the 24-year-old criminal defamation case she filed against Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. Judicial Magistrate First Class Raghav Sharma ordered both parties' lawyers to prepare questions for recording VK Saxena's statement on March 20.

The court stated that this case is 24 years old and all statements of the witnesses provided by Medha Patkar have already been recorded. The court noted that while Medha Patkar requested to record additional witness statements, she did not even mention which witnesses she wants to testify after all these years. Furthermore, during the 24-year trial, there has been no mention of any new witness's name. Therefore, the complainant's plea does not seem valid.

In fact, Medha Patkar has filed a defamation case against VK Saxena, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the former Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. At the time the case was filed, the accused VK Saxena was the President of the National Council for Civil Liberties.

In a separate criminal defamation case filed by VK Saxena, the Saket Court magistrate has sentenced Medha Patkar. She has challenged the magistrate court's order in the Sessions Court, which is set to deliver its verdict on March 20.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar