The Delhi court put social activist Medha Patkar on probation in a criminal defamation case filed against her and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday. The court released Patkar on bail, and the condition was that he was to pay a sum of ₹25000 and also surety of the same amount. Similarly, the Union Ministry has also sought the response of Delhi LG VK Saxena by September 4 on a similar notice passed by the court.
This comes after Patkar approached the sessions court to challenge the earlier sentence that had been passed on her. Earlier, on July 1, Patkar had been convicted to five months imprisonment and ₹10 lakh compensation to be paid to Saxena. The court had considered it as not severe, taking into consideration the age and health status of Patkar, as well as the duration of the punishment. But it has been providing the liberty to suspend the sentence till August 1 for Patkar to appeal.
Defamation Case in Delhi HC
The defamation case pertains to another press release which was issued on November 25, 2000, by Patkar in which she accused Saxena, who was heading an NGO in Ahmedabad at that time, as a ‘coward’ and accused him of hawala transactions. This was when Saxena’s NGO, known as the Indian NGO for the Sardar Sarovar Project, which a passionate opponent Patkar was vehemently against.
Saxena then filed two cases against Patkar for voicing foul statements about him on a television channel and a defamatory press statement. The advocacy agency and its lawyer argued that due to Patkar’s statements, Saxena was portrayed as a hypocrite.
Eventually, in May 2024, the court convicted Patkar and ruled that her actions were ‘‘deliberate malicious and were done with the intent to cause harm to Saxena.‘‘ Due to Patker’s statements, the perceptions created were negative. This means that the recent court ruling has given Patkar some protection for the time being as the appeal is to continue.
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