Explore Business Standard
Medha Patkar
A parliamentary committee meeting ended abruptly on Tuesday as BJP MPs protested against the panel's decision to hear activist Medha Patkar, who has long been accused by the ruling party of working against the country's development interests in the name of public and environmental causes. Former Union minister and BJP MP Parshottam Rupala was joined by other lawmakers from his party as they walked out of the meeting, with some dubbing Patkar as "anti-national". A BJP MP wondered if leaders from Pakistan could also be called at such a meeting. The Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, had called Patkar to hear her views on the implementation and effectiveness of the land acquisition law enacted by Parliament when the Congress-led UPA government was in power in 2013. Ulaka defended the decision, telling PTI that it is a standard practice for a parliamentary committee to hear civil society members and other stakeholder
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 ...
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked a trial court to fix after May 20 a defamation case filed by activist Medha Patkar against Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena in 2000. The Narmada Bachao Andolan leader filed the case against Saxena for allegedly publishing a defamatory advertisement when he headed an NGO in Gujarat. Justice Shalinder Kaur asked the trial court to list the defamation case, fixed for final arguments, after May 20, the day the high court is scheduled to hear Patkar's plea seeking to examine a new witness in the case. "The trial court is directed to give the date of hearing post the date given by this court," the judge said. The high court passed the direction on Patkar's plea seeking a stay on trial court's proceedings in the defamation case. The application was filed in a pending petition of Patkar challenging a trial court's March 18 order dismissing her plea to examine a new witness in the case. During the day's hearing, the high court was informed that on Mar
In a reprieve for Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, a Delhi court on Tuesday gave her one-year probation in the defamation case filed against her by Delhi LG V K Saxena subject to furnishing a bond of good conduct. Hearing an appeal filed by Patkar against her conviction and five-month sentence in the case filed in 2000, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh said he has taken into consideration Patkar's age, the gravity of the offence and that she had not been previously convicted. The judge also reduced the amount of fine imposed on the 70-year-old Patkar from Rs 10 lakh to Rs one lakh. Probation is a method of non-institutional treatment of offenders. It is a conditional suspension of sentence in which the offender after conviction is released on bond of good behaviour instead of sending the convict to prison. Last week, the court had upheld the magisterial court's order convicting her for the offence of defamation. Saxena had filed the case as president of the Nati
A court here on Monday suspended the sentence of five months' simple imprisonment awarded to Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar in a defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena 23 years ago, when he headed an NGO in Gujarat. On an appeal filed by Patkar, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma suspended the sentence and also issued a notice to the opposite party (LG), Saxena's counsel Gajinder Kumar said. The court also granted bail to Patkar on a bail bond and surety bond of Rs 25,000, he said. Kumar, who received the notice, said a reply has to be filed before the next date of hearing in the matter on September 4. The court had sentenced Patkar to jail on July 1. The court had convicted Patkar on May 24, observing that her 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. Also, the accusation that the complainan
A court here on Friday reserved for July 1 its order on the quantum of sentence against activist Medha Patkar in a defamation case lodged against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena when he headed an NGO in Gujarat. Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma reserved the order after noting that the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) submitted a victim impact report (VIR). The report is prepared after the conviction of an accused to assess the quantum of loss suffered by the victim. The offence entails a maximum punishment of simple imprisonment of up to two years or fine or both. Earlier on May 24, the court had observed 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. Also, 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 pub
Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar on Monday said infrastructure projects should not be launched without properly assessing their ecological impact as she extended support to the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. Arriving in the subsidence-hit Uttarakhand town on Monday, Patkar apologised for visiting late. "The Joshimath crisis is a warning bell. The authorities must wake up to the damage caused by mega development projects to the fragile Himalayan ecology," she said. Infrastructure projects should not be launched without properly assessing their impact on the ecology, Patkar added. She also addressed a meeting organised by the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti on the tehsil premises and said she stood with the affected people. The Samiti's 11-point list of demands includes the permanent scrapping of the NTPC's Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel power and the Helang-Marwadi bypass road projects that, it feels, are responsible for the subsidence crisis in Joshimath. It has also dema
Union Home Minister and BJP MP Amit Shah on Wednesday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's gesture of taking along anti-Narmada activist Medha Patkar during his Bharat Jodo Yatra is the "biggest insult" meted out to Gujarat's people by the Opposition party. He was addressing a poll rally in Jasdan town in Rajkot district in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kunvarji Bavalia for the next month's Gujarat Assembly elections. Voting on Jasdan and 88 other seats will be held on December 1 in the first phase of the two-phase polls. "Medha Patkar, who had stalled the Narmada dam project through litigation, is now walking with Congress' prince Rahul Gandhi. The party owes an answer to the people. This is akin to sprinkling salt on the wounds of the people of Gujarat," the Gandhinagar MP said. The official handle of Bharat Jodo' had tweeted a photo of Patkar with Gandhi when the Yatra was in Maharashtra, along with a caption, When you do something for the society, people ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for walking with Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. A Congress leader was seen taking out a padyatra with a woman who stalled the Narmada dam project for three decades, Modi said, addressing a rally at Dhoraji in the poll-bound state. Ask the Congress when it comes to demand your vote that you are taking out a padyatra by keeping your hand on the shoulders of those who were against Narmada dam. What would have happened had Narmada dam not been built,Modi said. Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh. Of the total 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, voting for 89 seats will be held on December 1 and the balance 93 seats on December 5.