Activist Medha Patkar was on Friday arrested by Delhi Police after Saket court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against her on April 23.
A Delhi court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader and said she "deliberately" flouted its order to submit probation bonds and deposit Rs 1 lakh fine in a defamation case of Delhi LG V K Saxena.
Observing her plea for adjournment was "frivolous and mischievous" and filed with the intent to "hoodwink" it, the court cautioned Patkar against her action saying it could make it "reconsider the benevolent sentence".
Additional sessions judge Vishal Singh said, "Instead of appearing before the court to comply with the order on sentence dated April 8, the convict (Patkar) is absent and has deliberately failed to comply with the order on sentence and to avail of the benefit of probation subject to furnishing of the compensation amount." The court went on, "The intention of the convict is apparent that she is deliberately violating the court order; she is avoiding appearing before the court and also avoiding accepting the terms of the sentence passed against her. There is no order of suspension of sentence passed by this court on April 8." Given the scenario, the court said, it was left with no other option but to enforce "her production through a coercive order".
"Issue non bailable warrants (NBWs) against convict Medha Patkar, through the office of the Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police, for the next date. Put up for report on NBWs and further proceedings on May 3," the court directed.
The judge said Patkar sought adjournment on the grounds that her revision petition was pending in the Delhi High Court.
"The application has no substance; there is no direction in the order dated April 22 of the Delhi High Court that the convict Medha Patkar is not required to comply with the order on sentence dated April 8. The present application is frivolous, mischievous and is only calculated to hoodwink the court," said ASJ Singh and dismissed it.
In a reprieve to Patkar, who was facing a five-month imprisonment, the court on April 8 released her on "probation of good conduct" in the defamation case.
The sessions court had "modified" the order of a magisterial court sentencing her to five months of simple imprisonment on July 1, 2024.
It asked her to deposit the compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh, which should be released to Saxena.
"On deposit of the compensation amount, the 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 court had said.
On Wednesday, the matter was listed for Patkar’s appearance, furnishing of probation bonds and depositing the fine amount. Advocates Gajinder Kumar and Kiran Jai appeared for Saxena.
What is the case against Patkar?
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.
On May 24, 2024, a magisterial court observed 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 public service, it added.
The arguments on sentencing were completed on May 30, following which the order on the quantum of sentence was reserved on June 7.
On July 1, the court sentenced her to five months' simple imprisonment, following which Patkar filed an appeal in a sessions court.
The sessions court, which 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.
(With PTI inputs)
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