Delhi Court suspends Medha Patkar's imprisonment in defamation case

A Delhi court on Monday suspended the five-month imprisonment sentence awarded to activist Medha Patkar in a 23-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena.

On July 1, Judicial Magistrate Raghav Sharma sentenced Patkar but allowed a one-month suspension of the sentence under Section 389(3) of the CrPC for her to appeal. Patkar was convicted on May 24 in the defamation case.

Less than a month later, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh suspended her sentence and granted her bail. Patkar was directed to furnish bail bonds of ₹25,000. The court also issued a notice to Saxena, seeking his reply by September 4.

The case dates back to 2000 when Saxena published an advertisement against Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan, which opposed the construction of dams on the Narmada River. In response, Patkar allegedly issued a ‘press notice’ against Saxena, leading to a defamation suit filed in 2001. The case was transferred to Delhi from Ahmedabad in 2003 by the Supreme Court.

While sentencing her, JMFC Sharma remarked, “…her decision to label the complainant (Saxena) as a ‘coward’ and ‘not a patriot’ was a direct attack on his personal character and loyalty to the nation.” Patkar’s counsel argued there was no proof that she sent the press note to Saxena, and questioned the authenticity of the email through which Saxena claimed to have received the note.