New Delhi, July 29 - The Delhi High Court Wednesday fined the defence ministry Rs.2,000 for preventing the Strategic Affairs magazine from participating in the Aero India 2009 international air show in Bangalore in February.

Justice Sanjeev Khanna imposed the fine for its lackadaisical attitude and continuous and willful violation of court orders.

Petitioner A.B. Mahapatra, the editor of Strategic Affairs, had contended that the

defence ministry and event manager Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had willfully prevented the magazine from participating in Aero India as it had written editorials critical of the DEFEXPO military hardware show held here in 2008.