While holding Patkar guilty of defamation, Judge Sharma ruled that Patkar imputed that Saxena was “mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources before Bill Gates and Wolfensohn and he was an agent of the Government of Gujarat”.
“It is evident that the accused harbored a clear intention to defame the complainant through her press note, given the deliberate and calculated nature of her statements,” the order stated.
The Court said that by explicitly stating that Saxena was “pained with hawala transactions”, Patkar aimed to associate him with illegal and unethical financial dealings, which inflicted significant harm to his reputation and standing.
This assertion, without providing any substantive evidence, was a clear attempt to malign his financial integrity and create a public perception of wrongdoing, the Court opined.
Judge Sharma ruled that the terms used by Patkar against Saxena were not only inflammatory, but were also intended to provoke public outrage and diminish his esteem in the eyes of the community.
Source: Barandbench
