New Delhi
(Consultant picture)
The Delhi excessive courtroom on Tuesday declined to postpone the execution of a classes courtroom order releasing activist Medha Patkar on probation in a 2001 legal defamation case filed by Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena.
On April 8, classes choose Vishal Singh had granted Patkar probation, directing her to deposit ₹1 lakh as compensation and furnish a private bond of ₹25,000 by April 23. The courtroom famous that Patkar, chief of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), was an individual of reputation with no prior convictions. The order got here after Patkar appealed a Might 24 ruling by a metropolitan Justice of the Peace that denied her aid and sentenced her to 5 months in jail.
On Tuesday, Patkar’s counsel sought a two-week deferment of the execution, citing her absence from Delhi. The plea was heard by justice Shailender Kaur, who declined the request and suggested the counsel to method the trial courtroom.
“Whatever is the order before the trial court, please follow the order. Please move the trial court (for postponing the execution),” justice Kaur instructed Patkar’s counsel.
The applying was filed as a part of Patkar’s attraction towards an April 2 metropolis courtroom order upholding her conviction. On April 7, the excessive courtroom scheduled Might 19 as the following listening to within the matter.
The defamation case stems from a press launch issued by Patkar on November 24, 2000, titled “True Face of Patriot.” In it, she alleged that Saxena, then president of the Nationwide Council of Civil Liberties (NCCL), had donated a cheque to the NBA that later bounced. Patkar implied Saxena, a vocal supporter of the Sardar Sarovar Undertaking, was covertly aiding the motion he publicly opposed.
On the time, Saxena’s NGO was concerned in exposing unfair commerce practices and tax evasion in interstate commerce. Saxena filed the defamation criticism on January 18, 2001, alleging that Patkar’s claims had been false and meant to break his popularity.
On Might 24, 2024, metropolitan Justice of the Peace Raghav Sharma discovered Patkar responsible, concluding that her statements had been deliberate, malicious, and geared toward tarnishing Saxena’s picture. On July 1, Sharma sentenced her to 5 months in jail and imposed a ₹10 lakh high quality.
The classes courtroom later overruled the jail time period, releasing Patkar on probation. Nonetheless, the order was conditional on the well timed deposit of compensation and execution of the bond, now due on April 23.