A Delhi court on Monday sentenced activist Medha Patkar to five months of simple imprisonment in a 23-year-old defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, who headed a Gujarat-based NGO at the time. Along with the prison term, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma imposed a fine of ₹10 lakh on Patkar.
The court's decision came after careful consideration of the evidence presented and the protracted nature of the case, which has spanned over two decades. However, the sentence has been suspended for one month to allow Patkar to appeal the order.
In rejecting Patkar's plea for probation, Judge Sharma stated, "Considering the facts... damages, age, and ailment (of the accused), I am not inclined to give excessive punishment." The offence carries a maximum penalty of up to two years of simple imprisonment, a fine, or both.
On May 24, the court observed that Patkar's statements calling Saxena a "coward" and accusing him of involvement in hawala transactions were inherently defamatory and intended to incite negative perceptions about him. Furthermore, her accusation that Saxena was "mortgaging" the people of Gujarat and their resources to foreign interests was deemed a direct attack on his integrity and public service.
The arguments on sentencing concluded on May 30, with the judgment on the quantum of the sentence reserved on June 7.
The legal battle between Patkar and Saxena dates back to 2000, when she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements critical of her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Saxena, who then led the Ahmedabad-based NGO 'Council for Civil Liberties', also filed two cases against Patkar in 2001 for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory press statement.
