Activist in Handcuffs: Delhi Police Nabs Medha Patkar After Court Warrant

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Narmada Bachao Andolan leader and social activist Medha Patekar was arrested by Delhi Police on Friday. This arrest has been made in a defamation case. The court had issued a non-bailable warrant against her.

Following the court's order, Delhi Police arrested Medha Patkar on Friday morning. The police took this action following the court's order. On Wednesday itself, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against Medha Patkar. This action has been taken after her conviction in the criminal defamation case registered against her. The case was registered by Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena in 2001. Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh of Saket Court had said that Medha Patkar did not appear in court and deliberately did not follow the order related to the sentence. Patkar's intention was clearly to disobey the court's order and avoid the hearing. Since there is no stay order on the sentence, the court said that it has now become necessary to resort to pressure to make Patkar appear. For the next date, a non-bailable warrant should be issued against the convicted Medha Patkar through the office of the Delhi Police Commissioner. The next hearing on this matter will be on May 3.

Let us tell you that Medha Patkar had appealed against the sentence given by the Magistrate Court last year. In the appeal, she got bail and the sentence of five months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh given to her was suspended. This case was registered under Section 500 (Criminal Defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. Vinay Kumar Saxena had filed this case in 2001, when he was the head of Ahmedabad-based NGO 'National Council for Civil Liberties'. Saxena had said that Medha Patkar had accused him of being a coward and anti-national and of being involved in hawala transactions in a press note issued on 25 November 2000. In the case, the court convicted Patkar and said that her statements were deliberate, malicious and aimed at damaging Saxena's reputation.