A Delhi court on Monday suspended a five-month prison sentence given to activist Medha Patkar in a defamation case that is more than two decades old, The Indian Express reported.
The case was filed in 2001 by VK Saxena, who is now the lieutenant governor of Delhi. At the time, 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.
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.
On May 24, Patkar was convicted in the case. She was found guilty of criminal defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, as per which she was liable to serve two years jail time or pay a fine, or both.
While handing Patkar the jail term on July 1, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Raghav Sharma ordered a one-month suspension of the sentence to allow her to file an appeal against the judgement.
On Monday, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh suspended her sentence after she challenged the order, reported The Indian Express. Singh also granted bail to Patkar and directed her to furnish bail bonds of Rs 25,000.
The court also issued notice to Saxena and sought his reply on September 4.
The judgement passed on May 24 had said that Patkar’s decision to label Saxena as a “coward” and “not a patriot” was a direct attack on his 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 that 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.
Also read: True patriots be damned: Medha Patkar’s conviction and more than 20 years of inconvenient questions
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