मेधा पाटकर की पांच महीने की सजा पर आपत्ति जताई, कहा कानूनी रूप से विचारणीय नहीं है

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Wednesday filed his reply on the appeal filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar against her five-month sentence, saying the appeal is not legally maintainable and deserves to be dismissed. Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh of Saket Court had suspended Patkar's sentence on July 29 in a defamation case filed by Saxena, who headed an NGO in Gujarat 23 years ago, and sought her response. On July 1, the magistrate court had sentenced Patkar to five months' simple imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10 lakh. On Wednesday, Saxena's lawyers Gajinder Kumar and Kiran Jai objected to Patkar's appeal, saying it is not maintainable and deserves to be dismissed as Patkar has not signed it.

Further, he had filed a “false affidavit” which was “ante-dated” or signed and verified on July 17, a date on which the appeal did not exist, the advocates said, adding, for these reasons, there were “grave doubts” about the “truth and veracity” of the contents of the appeal. According to Saxena’s reply, “This manner of filing the appeal i.e. without the signature of the accused or appellant (Patkar) and with an antedated false affidavit is not only an act of contempt and perjury of this court but it is also a clever strategy on the part of the appellant to deny any or the entire facts and record as per his convenience.”