Activist Medha Patkar arrested in defamation case filed by Delhi L-G

Saxena filed the case as the president of the National Council of Civil Liberties against Patkar for her defamatory press release against Saxena, issued on November 24, 2000

Social activist Medha Patkar was on Friday arrested by Delhi Police, two days after a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against her by a Delhi court in a defamation case filed by lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena.

On July 1 last year, the court sentenced her to five months’ simple imprisonment. (PTI file photo)

Deputy commissioner of police (south east) Ravi Kumar Singh confirmed the development.

“She was arrested from the Nizamuddin railway station on Friday morning. She’ll be produced before the court in the afternoon,” a police officer aware of the matter said.

A Delhi court on Wednesday had issued a non-bailable warrant against Patkar and said she “deliberately” flouted its order to submit probation bonds and deposit ₹1 lakh fine in the defamation case.

She was sentenced to five months of imprisonment in May 2024.

Additional sessions judge Vishal Singh of the Saket district court passed the order and rejected an application by Patkar seeking postponement of the execution of the order issued on April 8, which directed that the conditions be fulfilled by April 23.

Issuing the warrant through the Delhi police commissioner, the court said that if Patkar failed to comply with its previous order by the next date of hearing, it would be constrained to reconsider the benevolent sentence and alter its order on sentence.