Delhi HC asks Medha Patkar to approach sessions court to defer fine payment

The sessions court, which found the 70-year-old guilty of defamation, released her on "probation of good conduct" on April 8 with a condition to deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked activist Medha Patkar to move the sessions court for permission to defer the execution of a sentence, in which she was asked to deposit Rs one lakh fine in a defamation case filed by Delhi LG V K Saxena.

Saxena had filed the case 23 years ago when he was heading an NGO in Gujarat.

The sessions court, which had earlier held the 70-year-old guilty in the defamation case, released her on "probation of good conduct" on April 8 and imposed a precondition on her of depositing Rs 1 lakh as fine.

Probation is a method of non-institutional treatment of offenders and a conditional suspension of sentence in which the offender, after conviction, is released on bond of good behaviour instead of being sent to prison.

As Justice Shalinder Kaur was not inclined to entertain Patkar's application seeking to direct the trial court to postpone the execution of the sentence, including depositing the fine amount, her counsel submitted that he would approach the sessions court with the plea.

"You first follow the trial court order and then I will consider your plea. Don't come to the court on the last day," Justice Kaur said as Patkar's counsel submitted that the matter is listed before the sessions court on Wednesday for furnishing of probation bond and depositing the amount.

The high court recorded the submission of the petitioner's counsel and said the application should be considered by the trial court as per law.

The court listed the matter for May 19, the date already fixed for hearing Patkar's plea challenging the April 2 decision of the sessions court, which upheld her conviction in the case given by a magisterial court.

The magisterial court on July 1, 2024 sentenced the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader to five months of simple imprisonment and slapped a Rs 10 lakh fine after finding her guilty under IPC Section 500 (defamation).

In a reprieve to Patkar, who was facing a five-month imprisonment, the sessions court on April 8 released her on "probation of good conduct" in the defamation case.

The sessions court, therefore, "modified" the order of a magisterial court sentencing her to five months of simple imprisonment on July 1, 2024. It asked her to deposit compensation amount of Rs one lakh which should be released to complainant Saxena. The sessions court said the compensation amount shall be recoverable as fine, as per law.

"On deposit of compensation amount, convict or appellant Medha Patkar shall furnish a probation bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of like amount for an operative period of one year from the date of furnishing the probation bond," the sessions court added.

Saxena filed the case against Patkar when he was the president of National Council of Civil Liberties for a "defamatory press release" issued on November 24, 2000 against him.

On May 24, last year, the magisterial court held that Patkar's statements calling Saxena a "coward" and alleging his involvement in hawala transactions were not only defamatory per se but also "crafted to incite negative perceptions" about him.

The accusation that the complainant was "mortgaging" the people of Gujarat and their resources to foreign interests was a direct attack on his integrity and public service, it had said.