A Delhi court on Monday sentenced social activist Medha Patkar to five months simple imprisonment in a 24-year-old defamation suit against her by VK Saxena, who is now the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. The court also ordered Patkar to pay Rs 10 lakh in damages to Saxena.
Medha Patkar was convicted in the case by the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma in May this year. She had been locked in a legal battle with Saxena since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).
Saxena was then the chief of Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties.
Saxena had also filed two cases against her for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory statement.
While convicting Patkar in the case, the magistrate court had stated that her statements against Saxena were "not only defamatory but also crafted to incite negative perceptions".
Pronouncing the order on Monday, the court said that Patkar, 69, was not given a rigorous imprisonment term considering her age and health.
Patkar has moved a bail plea before the court. The jail sentence will stay suspended for 30 days until the bail plea is heard.
