New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the conviction of NGO operator Medha Patkar in a 25-year-old defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh declined to disturb the Delhi High Court’s order, which had released Patkar on “probation of good conduct” but required her to appear before the trial court once every three years. The apex court, however, set aside the penalty imposed and clarified that the supervision order would not be enforced.

On July 29, the high court had affirmed the conviction and sentence handed to the 70-year-old Patkar, ruling there was no illegality or procedural defect in the trial court’s findings. It noted the conviction was based on evidence and applicable law, with no miscarriage of justice. The court also maintained her release on probation, modifying the earlier condition requiring her to appear every three months to once in three years, allowing physical, virtual, or lawyer representation.

The case dates back to November 24, 2000, when Saxena, then president of the National Council of Civil Liberties, accused Patkar of issuing a defamatory press release alleging he was “mortgaging” Gujarat’s people and resources to foreign interests. The magisterial court on July 1, 2024, found the statement defamatory and intended to harm Saxena’s reputation, sentencing Patkar to five months’ simple imprisonment and a ₹10 lakh fine under Section 500 of the IPC.

On April 2, 2024, the sessions court upheld the conviction, dismissed her appeal as baseless, and ordered her release on a ₹25,000 probation bond, subject to depositing ₹1 lakh as fine. The Narmada Bachao Andolan leader subsequently challenged the ruling before the high court and then the Supreme Court, both of which upheld the conviction. DeshGujarat