New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of controversial NGO operator Medha Patkar in a criminal defamation case filed in 2001 by V.K. Saxena, who is now the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

Justice Shalinder Kaur, presiding over a single-judge Bench, dismissed the revision plea filed by Patkar, which had challenged an earlier Saket Court order that rejected her criminal appeal and maintained her conviction.

The judge noted that Patkar could not establish any procedural lapse amounting to a miscarriage of justice, adding that her conviction was based on a proper evaluation of the evidence and relevant law.

Granting limited relief, the High Court modified a probation condition that required Patkar to appear before the trial court every three months, allowing her instead to appear virtually or through legal representation. The court, however, declined to consider her plea to bring in an additional witness in the case against Saxena.

The case traces back to 2001, when Saxena lodged two defamation complaints against Patkar — one related to alleged derogatory comments made in a television interview, and the other regarding a press statement. These followed a defamation suit Patkar had filed in 2000, accusing Saxena of publishing defamatory ads against her and the NBA.

In July last year, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma sentenced Patkar to five months in prison and directed her to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to Saxena.

Later, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh at the Saket Court upheld her conviction on appeal but ordered her release on probation for a year, provided she deposited Rs 1 lakh as compensation to be paid to Saxena.

The court had observed that showing disregard for others’ reputation and misusing free speech should invite criminal penalties, emphasizing that Patkar, as a person of public standing, should appreciate the significance of reputation and the harm defamation can cause to someone’s public image.