Since 2000, Patkar’s defamatory ad complaint led to compromise for two accused in 2008, but Saxena’s trial continues with four witnesses examined
New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain activist Medha Patkar’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s decision not to allow her to introduce a new witness in her defamation case against Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena. The case has been pending for nearly 25 years.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma indicated it would not interfere with the High Court ruling, following which Patkar’s counsel withdrew the petition.
The matter dates back to December 2000, when Patkar filed a complaint over a newspaper advertisement she called defamatory. Proceedings against two accused ended in 2008 after a compromise, but the trial against Saxena continued. Four witnesses, including Patkar, were already examined between 2018 and 2024.
In February, Patkar applied under Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to summon Nandita Narayan as a new witness. The trial court rejected the request, citing long delays and questioning its timing. The Delhi High Court upheld the rejection, saying no strong reason was given for failing to name Narayan earlier.
Patkar argued that barring her from producing a voluntary witness amounted to injustice and stressed that past delays were beyond her control. Saxena’s counsel countered that adding a witness now would only prolong the already delayed trial and appeared to be an afterthought.
The High Court noted that Section 254(1) does not allow unlimited liberty to add witnesses and warned against misuse that could delay trials endlessly.
With the Supreme Court’s refusal, the trial is set to proceed without the additional witness.
