A Delhi court on Monday (1st July 2024) sentenced social activist Medha Patkar to five months of imprisonment in a more than two-decade-old criminal defamation case lodged by the present Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi Vinai Kumar Saxena.
Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma of Saket Court on 25th of May convicted Ms. Patkar for the offence of criminal defamation under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
In 2001, Mr. Saxena, who at the time was the President of a NGO, the National Council for Civil Liberties, filed a case against Ms. Patkar for defaming him through a press release issued by her. He had approached a local court in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, which took cognisance of the offence. The case was moved to Saket Court in 2002 on the orders of the Supreme Court. The court, while convicting Ms. Patkar, said her actions were deliberate and malicious.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
