New Delhi : Delhi's Saket Court has sentenced Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar to five months' imprisonment after she was found guilty in a criminal defamation case filed by Delhi's Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena. Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma ordered Medha Patkar to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh to V K Saxena.
The court said that the maximum sentence in this case is two years, but considering Medha Patkar's health, a sentence of five months is given. The court also ordered to suspend this sentence for 30 days.
Earlier, on June 7, the court had reserved the decision on the sentence, as the lawyer appearing on behalf of complainant VK Saxena had demanded maximum punishment for Medha Patkar.
The Indian Penal Code provides for a maximum punishment of two years imprisonment in a case of criminal defamation. On May 24, the Saket Court convicted Medha Patkar. The court convicted Medha Patkar under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. The court had said that it has become clear that the accused Medha Patkar made false allegations against V K Saxena only to damage his reputation.
On 25 November 2000, Medha Patkar issued a statement in English, accusing V K Saxena of hawala transactions and called him a coward. Medha Patkar had said that V K Saxena was mortgaging the people of Gujarat and its resources for foreign interests. Such a statement was termed as a direct attack on the integrity of V K Saxena.
Medha Patkar had said in her defence filed in the court that V K Saxena has been issuing false and defamatory statements since 2000. Patkar had said that V K Saxena had also physically attacked her in 2002, after which Medha had lodged an FIR in Ahmedabad. She had said in the court that V K Saxena was working for corporate interests and he was against the demands of those opposing the Sardar Sarovar Project.
V K Saxena filed a criminal defamation case against Medha Patkar in Ahmedabad court in 2001. The trial court of Gujarat took cognizance of the case, later in 2003 the Supreme Court transferred the hearing of the case from Gujarat to Saket court in Delhi. In 2011 Medha Patkar declared herself innocent and said that she would face the trial. When V K Saxena filed the case in Ahmedabad, he was the president of the National Council for Civil Liberties.
