Social activist Medha Patkar sentenced to five months simple imprisonment in defamation case
On Monday, a Delhi court sentenced social activist Medha Patkar to five months simple jail in a 24-year-old defamation suit brought against her by VK Saxena, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor. The court also ordered Patkar to pay Saxena Rs 10 lakh as damages.
Medha Patkar was convicted by Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma’s court in May of this year. She has been in a court struggle with Saxena since 2000, when she sued him for releasing advertising disparaging her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).
Saxena was then the head of the Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties.
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Court rules allegations against Saxena as defamatory
While convicting Patkar in the case, the magistrate court ruled that her allegations against Saxena were “not only defamatory but also crafted to incite negative perceptions”.
Saxena had also filed two lawsuits against her for making disparaging statements about him on a television show and delivering a defamatory statement.
