The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the conviction of activist Medha Patkar in a 24-year-old defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, Live Law reported.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, however, set aside a penalty of Rs 1 lakh imposed on the activist. It also modified the probation condition requiring her to appear before the trial court periodically, instead allowing her to furnish bonds.
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 in November 2000.
The case, filed in an Ahmedabad court, was transferred to the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in Delhi in 2003. Patkar pleaded not guilty to the charges in 2013.
In May 2024, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma convicted Patkar in the case. She was found guilty of criminal defamation and held liable to serve two years in jail, pay a fine, or both.
On April 2, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh upheld the verdict convicting Patkar. On April 8, however, Singh granted Patkar one year’s probation in the case, noting that the offence she had committed was not grave enough to warrant imprisonment.
However, Patkar had been expected to appear before the court on April 23, furnish probation bonds and deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh. As the activist did not appear in court or comply with other orders, Singh said that Patkar was deliberately violating the directions and issued a non-bailable warrant.
On April 25, Patkar was arrested but released hours later from custody. Her release came after her counsel told the court that the probation order was still valid and that the activist would furnish the probation bonds.
The activist had earlier moved the Delhi High Court against her conviction.
On July 29, the High Court upheld Patkar’s conviction. It said that there was no illegality in the decisions taken by the trial court and the appellate court to convict the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader in the case, adding that the orders were passed after consideration of evidence and law.
The May 2024 judgement 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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