Medha Patkar cleared in long-running defamation case filed by Delhi L-G
Medha Patkar, well-known social activist, has been acquitted in a criminal defamation case brought by Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The case dated back to 2006, when Saxena accused Patkar of making damaging remarks about him during a TV interview.
After years in court, the judge said there just wasn't enough solid evidence to prove the claims against her.
Why the court let it go
Saxena had claimed Patkar accused him of getting civil contracts from Sardar Sarovar Nigam and said this hurt his reputation. He took legal action after not getting a response to his notice demanding proof.
But since there was no original recording or device from the interview, the court ruled that it couldn't really judge what was actually said.
As Judge Raghav Sharma put it, "Without examining the entire clip/footage of that interview, no determination can be made regarding the speech of the accused,"
So with doubts left unresolved, Patkar walked free.