Activist Medha Patkar arrested, released hours later in 24-year-old defamation case
Activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar was released from custody on Friday hours after being arrested by the police in a 24-year-old defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, The Indian Express reported.
This came two days after a Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against Patkar for not furnishing probation bonds in the case.
The case was filed in 2001, when Saxena was heading the Ahmedabad-based non-governmental organisation National Council for Civil Liberties. Saxena alleged that Patkar had defamed him in a press note titled 'True face of patriot', which the activist had issued on November 25, 2000.
On Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Vipin Kharb of Saket Court directed the Delhi Police to release Patkar and allow her to furnish the bail bonds.
In May, Patkar was convicted in the case. She was found guilty of criminal defamation under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code and was liable to serve two years' jail time, pay a fine, or both.
On April 8, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh had granted Patkar one year's probation in the case, noting that the offence she had committed was not grave enough to warrant imprisonment.
Patkar was expected to appear before the court on Wednesday, furnish probation bonds and deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
As the activist did not appear in court or comply with other orders, the judge on Wednesday said that Patkar was deliberately violating the directions and issued a non-bailable warrant.
Patkar's release on Friday came after her counsel told the court that the probation order was still valid, The Indian Express reported. The activist will furnish the probation bonds on Friday, said the lawyer.
The case was filed in an Ahmedabad court and transferred to the chief metropolitan magistrate's court in Delhi in 2003. Patkar pleaded not guilty to the charges in 2013.
The judgement passed in May had said that Patkar's press note was a direct attack on Saxena's personal character and loyalty to the nation.
The court also observed that Patkar had accused Saxena of 'mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources to foreign interests' and held the allegation to be a 'direct attack' on his integrity and public service.
'Such allegations are particularly grave in the public sphere, where patriotism is highly valued, and questioning someone's courage and national loyalty can cause irreversible damage to their public image and social standing,' the court had said.
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