A Delhi court on July 29 suspended the sentence awarded to social activist Medha Patkar, known for Narmada Bachao Andolan, in the criminal defamation case filed by former Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Delhi, V.K. Saxena.
Additional sessions judge Vishal Singh of Saket Court, apart from suspending Ms. Patkar’s sentence, granted her bail in the case after furnishing a bail bond of ₹25,000.
The court issued notice to Mr. Saxena seeking his reply on the appeal filed by Ms. Patkar in the 23-year-old defamation case. The matter has been listed for September 4.
The court’s decision came as Ms. Patkar, earlier this month, had challenged the trial court order of July 1 which had awarded her five months jail along with ₹10 lakh as compensation to Mr. Saxena for the “harm she has done to his reputation”.
Metropolitan magistrate Raghav Sharma of the Saket Court, who had convicted Ms. Patkar for the offence of criminal defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, on May 24, 2024, had said the conviction order would remain suspended for 30 days.
The court also rejected Ms. Patkar’s prayer to release her on the condition of probation and noted that it is not imposing punishment of 1-2 years, considering Ms. Patkar’s age and health conditions.
The case against Ms. Patkar was lodged in 2001 when Mr. Saxena headed the NGO, National Council of Civil Liberties. His organisation had opposed the movement led by Ms. Patkar through an advertisement published in newspapers, to which she had responded by calling him a “coward” and “not a patriot”.
Aggrieved by this, Mr. Saxena approached a court in Ahmedabad. The case was moved to the Delhi’s Saket court in 2003 in pursuant to the orders of the Supreme Court.
The court, while convicting Ms. Patkar, said her actions were deliberate and malicious.
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