logo
Activist Medha Patkar arrested in 24-year-old VK Saxena defamation case

Activist Medha Patkar arrested in 24-year-old VK Saxena defamation case

India Today25-04-2025

Within 48 hours of a non-bailable warrant being issued by the Saket District Court, Delhi Police on Friday arrested Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar in a 24-year-old defamation case filed by the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena.On Thursday, the Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against Patkar for failing to pay the fine imposed on her in the contempt of court case linked to Saxena and for disobeying the court's order to appear before it.advertisementAdditional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh had ordered Medha Patkar to appear before the court on May 3, to review the report on the non-bailable warrant and any further action.
The case pertains to Patkar's remarks on Saxena back in 2000, when she had allegedly called him a "coward" and alleged that he was involved in hawala transactions.The current L-G of Delhi was then heading an NGO in Gujarat. While Saxena's NGO had openly supported the Gujarat government's Sardar Sarovar Project, the NBA was leading a movement against it.However, Patkar, in a press release dated November 25, 2000, alleged that Saxena was secretly supporting NBA's protests against the Gujarat government project. She further claimed the Saxena had forwarded a check to NBA, which bounced.Last year in May, a magistrate court observed that Patkar's remarks were defamatory in nature and convicted the activist, sentencing her to three months in jail. The court further ordered her to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to the complainant, VK Saxena.advertisementTaking note of her old age and worsening health, ASJ Singh suspended the sentence and granted her bail on July 29, 2024. However, the order to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation and submit a probation bond remained in effect.ASJ Vishal Singh had granted one-year probation to Patkar in connection with the case on April 8.On Wednesday, Patkar filed an application, requesting the proceedings against her to be paused, citing a pending appeal before the High Court.Dismissing Patkar's prayer, the Delhi court said there was no such directive given by the High Court in its April 22 order and was still required to comply with the April 8 order of the sessions court. The Delhi court further noted that it was a deliberate attempt by Patkar to deceive the court.Instead of appearing before court and complying with the April 8 order, Patkar remained absent from the proceedings while refusing to submit the amount.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Siddaramaiah cites 1995 law to justify Congress high command's decision to scrap 2015 caste survey
Siddaramaiah cites 1995 law to justify Congress high command's decision to scrap 2015 caste survey

The Print

timean hour ago

  • The Print

Siddaramaiah cites 1995 law to justify Congress high command's decision to scrap 2015 caste survey

He also said that the socio-economic and educational survey , better known as the caste survey, was over a decade old and needed to be re-enumerated even though his core support base of Backward Classes groups have been pressuring him to release the data. 'Already 10 years are over (and) according to section 11, clause 1 of the Backward Classes Act 1995, it is very clear that after the 10 years (sic) period, a new survey is to be conducted,' Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Thursday. Bengaluru: A day after the Congress tried to mask its decision to scrap the findings of the 2015 caste survey, Karnataka government Thursday cited clauses from the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1995, to justify its high command's directive to do away with the report. 'In 10 years, the population has gone up, socio-economic and educational changes have happened. In the Backward Classes Commission Act, it is clearly mentioned that after 10 years a new survey needs to be undertaken,' he added. He was addressing the media after a special cabinet session was convened in Bengaluru to discuss the caste survey. On Tuesday, the Congress high command tried to find middle ground between Siddaramaiah and members of his cabinet opposed to the decision to release the findings of the 2015 survey. Political analysts and observers ThePrint spoke to suggested this decision reflects the party leadership's careful manoeuvring to reconcile differing–and confrontational–viewpoints within Karnataka, effectively diverting attention from the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede and prevent the Centre from taking credit for initiating the nationwide caste census. Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal said Tuesday that the party accepts the 2015 caste survey in principle but also called for re-enumeration. The decision was viewed as a setback to Siddaramaiah who has advocated for long to address the dominant status enjoyed by groups like Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Insistence on conducting the entire exercise again is also perceived as a political maneuver for upstage Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement for a nationwide caste census. Also Read: How redoing Karnataka 'caste census' weakens CM Siddaramaiah without strengthening Shivakumar 'New survey to be conducted in 90 days' In 2015, during his first term as chief minister, Siddaramaiah formed a single-person panel comprising then Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSBCC) chairperson H. Kantharaj, which initiated work on the caste survey on 11 April that year. It completed the survey on 30 May, 2015—having put forth 54 questions to a total of 5.98 crore people or 94.17 percent of the state's population. But the report, which cost roughly Rs 190 crores, was never accepted as political leaders and seers from dominant communities are believed to have pressured the government to shelve it. Siddaramaiah did not accept the findings and the Congress was ousted from power three years later in 2018. He also did not pursue its coalition partner, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), to do the same in 2019. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not want to accept the report since its then chief minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, was leading the agitation to scrap the findings. 'Let H.D. Kumaraswamy, B.Y. Vijayendra and R. Ashoka call for a press conference and announce they are in favour of the earlier caste census. They are making a lot of comments, we will respond to them in the Assembly session. The media must highlight contradictions in the stand of Opposition over caste census. They are trying to politicise it,' Shivakumar said Thursday. In February last year, Siddaramaiah accepted the report but did not open the files until earlier this year. When he did do it, and some of the findings were leaked, protests by so-called dominant communities intensified as the population numbers of these groups were shown to be significantly lower than what was projected earlier. Caste plays a very important role in Karnataka's politics and society. BJP is believed to have the backing of Lingayats while JD(S) depends on the Vokkaligas. The Congress under Siddaramaiah has been backed by AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits). Caste trumps party affiliations as Siddaramaiah's own cabinet ministers, including Shivakumar, M.B. Patil, S.S. Mallikarjun, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Eshwar Khandre and several others opposed the release of the report. Siddaramaiah is from the backward Kuruba community and his support base took aim at Shivakumar every time the latter would try to broach the unwritten pact that he would replace the former halfway through the term. Siddaramaiah camp further complicated matters for the party by promoting a narrative that replacing a chief minister from Backward Classes with Shivakumar, who is from a dominant community, could be politically unfavorable. 'Siddaramaiah and Congress used the Backward Classes for their political agenda and then sacrificed the latter. Siddaramaiah claims that he became CM with the support of AHINDA but has today shown that he will cheat the backward classes to remain in power,' R. Raghu Kautilya, president of Karnataka BJP's OBC morcha said Thursday. Shivakumar said the Congress was carrying out the survey again to further its objective of achieving social justice and not for the sake of politics. The state government said the new survey will be completed in 90 days of it being commissioned. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: Karnataka protests 'ban' on its Totapuri mangoes entering AP, Naidu govt says 'rescue your own farmers'

Action Against Former Delhi Official Over Irregularities In Educational Infrastructure
Action Against Former Delhi Official Over Irregularities In Educational Infrastructure

NDTV

timean hour ago

  • NDTV

Action Against Former Delhi Official Over Irregularities In Educational Infrastructure

New Delhi: Disciplinary proceedings will be held against SR Meena -- a former Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department -- for alleged irregularities in the construction of classrooms under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan during the Aam Aadmi Party government. Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved a proposal from the vigilance department for this. The decision comes after serious irregularities were allegedly identified in the implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, a Central initiative aimed at enhancing educational infrastructure in Delhi, which was allocated Rs. 38.37 crore for the construction of 226 classrooms across various schools. SR Meena is currently serving with CPWD in Amritsar. The misconduct dates back to 2019, but the case against another officer, Krishan Pal. Former AAP ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain were summoned by the Anti-Corruption Branch earlier this week over allegations of financial irregularities of around Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of over 12,000 classrooms and semi-permanent structures in the city's government schools. Officials said investigation revealed several lapses on the part of the PWD, including how the funds were diverted from one school to another - instead of classrooms, halls were being made. The situation escalated when a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court, asking the court to direct the government to hand over possession of six newly built school buildings. The litigation prompted the Chief Secretary to investigate the matter, during which significant irregularities in construction practices and fund management were uncovered.

"Sonam Raghuvanshi Used Burqa To Escape, Was In Indore When Raja's Body Was Found": Cop
"Sonam Raghuvanshi Used Burqa To Escape, Was In Indore When Raja's Body Was Found": Cop

NDTV

time4 hours ago

  • NDTV

"Sonam Raghuvanshi Used Burqa To Escape, Was In Indore When Raja's Body Was Found": Cop

All five accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi honeymoon killing - wife Sonam Raghuvanshi, her lover Kushwaha and three alleged hitmen Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan and Anand Kurmi - have admitted to their crime, said the police on Friday. The Meghalaya Police would take all five accused in the case to the crime spot at Sohra-Cherrapunji areas of the East Khasi Hills district next week for reconstruction of the crime, officials said. The newly-wed couple - Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi - from Madhya Pradesh's Indore went missing from a village near Sohra (Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district on May 23, two days after they landed in the northeastern state on their honeymoon. They were married on May 11. The man's body was retrieved from a 200-foot deep gorge on June 2. Wife Sonam, said police, surrendered at a police station in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Monday. "The murder was planned right before Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam's wedding. Raj Kushwaha is the mastermind behind this and Sonam is his partner in crime. The three killers were Raj's friends, and one among them is his cousin," Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, Syiem Vivek, who is overseeing the investigation, told NDTV. "Since February this year, the planning was going on about how to make Sonam disappear. Two ideas were under consideration to make her disappear: first, Sonam should be shown jumping into the river; second, someone should be murdered and the body should be burnt presented as Sonam's. But the accused could not implement these plans. The plan to murder Raja was made 11 days before his marriage," said the officer. Sonam Raghuvanshi, 24, was in love with Raj Kushwaha, 21, and had warned her family of "consequences" if she was pressured to marry Raja Raghuvanshi, police sources said. As per the preliminary autopsy report, Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, was hit twice, once each on the back and front of his head. "This is not a contract killing, however, an investigation regarding the same is underway. Raj had paid the three hitmen Rs 50,000 each," said the police officer. Raja Raghuvanshi was told by his wife Sonam that she would let him consummate the marriage only after making an offering at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, investigators had said on Wednesday. "When Sonam and Raja reached Guwahati to visit Kamakhya after marriage, the killers had already reached Guwahati on 19 May. Their initial plan was to kill Raja in Guwahati itself. But Sonam had planned to go to Shillong and Sohra. Therefore, this plan was shelved," said the officer. "After that, they reached Nongriat. Thereafter, all of them attacked Raja and killed him and hid his body. They left soon after," said the officer. After this, the officer said, Sonam wore a burqa offered by one of the hitmen and reached Guwahati in a taxi. "Then from Guwahati she took a bus and went to Siliguri, from Siliguri she went to Patna, from Patna she took a bus to Ara, from Ara she took a train to Lucknow, from Lucknow she took a bus to Indore," said the officer, detailing her movements after the murder. "After the three hitmen were arrested, Sonam was told by Raj to leave Indore and tell her family that she was kidnapped," said the officer. The day Raja's body was found, on June 2, Sonam was in Indore, said the officer. Sonam was in Indore from June 25 to 8, the officer said. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Meghalaya police is probing the sensational murder.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store