New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday (April 25) suspended the sentence of activist Medha Patkar and granted her bail in a criminal defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena in 2001.
Justice Shalinder Kaur suspended Patkar’s sentence and granted her bail on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and posted her plea challenging her punishment in the case on May 20. She has challenged the order of the sessions court order upholding her conviction by a magisterial court.
Patkar was earlier in the day arrested in the case
Patkar was earlier in the day arrested in the case and produced before a sessions court following a non-bailable warrant was issued against her by a city court after she failed to honour the conditions of probation on the prescribed date.
Sessions court upheld magisterial court order but suspended Patlar’s jail term
A sessions court upheld a magisterial court order convicting her in the defamation case filed by Saxena but suspended her jail term and released her on “probation of good conduct”. The court directed her to furnish a Rs 25,000 probation bond on April 8 and imposed a precondition of Rs 1 lakh fine. A non-bailable warrant was issued after her failure to honour the conditions of probation on the prescribed date.
Patkar earlier in the day withdrew her earlier appeal challenging her conviction in the defamation case and filed a fresh one.
Magisterial court last year convicted Patkar
The magisterial court had on July 1 last year sentenced Patkar to five months’ simple imprisonment and imposed a Rs 10 lakh fine after finding her guilty under section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), saying saying reputation is one of the most valuable assets and it significantly impacts one’s standing in society.
“Reputation is one of the most valuable assets a person can possess, as it affects both personal and professional relationships and can significantly impact an individual’s standing in society,” the magisterial court had said while convicting Patkar.
