Defamation Case: Medha Patkar Sentenced To 5-Month Jail Term

New Delhi: Medha Patkar was on Monday sentenced to five-month simple imprisonment in a defamation case filed against her in 2021 by VK Saxena, who is currently the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma of Saket Courts also ordered the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader and activist to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to Saxena for the damage caused to him.

While convicting Patkar in the case, the magistrate court had said that her statements against Saxena were “not only defamatory but also crafted to incite negative perceptions.”

However, the court didn’t impose excessive punishment on Patkar considering her age and medical ailments.

Patkar was convicted by the court on May 24 under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Saxena had taken the legal route against Patkar in 2001, when he was Chief of Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties, for defaming him in a press note dated November 25, 2000, titled “true face of patriot.”